Project Motherhood: Monika
by Gamer95
Summary: Harry Potter wishes to be anywhere that is not his aunt and uncle'Sam home. He gets his wish when he transfers himself into a video game with a certain self aware schoolgirl. Can Monika give him the life he desires despite the limitations of the digital world she lives in?
1. Chapter 1

**Before we get started, I have the obligatory author's note where I beg for help from somebody. I need a co-writer. The one that helped me with this story joined the army and is no longer available for any more stories and I am absolutely beside myself with desperation. I need help. Any form of help will do. Please... I'm having such a difficult time getting much of anything done with these stories, and it's reached the point where I'm genuinely wondering if I should give up, even if I don't want to do that. I just need the help... I'll take anything aside from beta reading [because it's the storytelling I need help with, not the grammar].**

Little Harry Potter whimpered as he curled up in the cupboard under the stairs, fresh welts and bruises littering his tiny frame, some of which were bleeding. It hurt... It all hurt so much... His uncle was so cruel to him... Always beating him and calling him names...

"I wanna be somewhere else..." He whispered to himself. "Anywhere else..." He let out a whimper and began to shake uncontrollably. As he fell into a fitful slumber, however, a computer started to glow... And Harry right along with it...

Monika shot up from her bed with a gasp. She looked around wildly at her surroundings. "Huh...? What?" She looked around, surprised not to see a featureless white void around her. Everything was loaded, just like it was when the game was being played... But there was no one playing the game. Monika didn't hear the annoyingly repetitive music of the main menu theme, she didn't see a player looking at her from the fourth wall, she saw only the sight of her bedroom... What was going on?

Curious, she decided to boot up the game's code. Everything seemed just the way it normally would... An update, perhaps?

She decided to use the debug menu's scanning feature to map out the town and see where everything was. Sayori was eating breakfast...Natsuki was baking the cupcakes she had promised to bring to bring to school tomorrow, Yuri was reading a novel... All seemed normal. Monika grew bored searching through the town, leaning her cheek on her hand as she looked at the screen. But just as she was about to give up, she saw something new... It looked to be a little boy, looking lost, confused and scared in an alleyway.

Monika shot up at that. She'd never seen this boy before! Hurriedly, she looked through the code once more. He was nowhere to be found! The girl stared in shock at the screen in front of her, wondering what to do.

The boy was in no real danger... Her, the other girls and Natsuki's dad were the only characters programmed into this game, so he wasn't likely to be attacked, but... The fear and confusion in his emerald green eyes reached out to Monika...

Harry was confused about how he'd gotten here, and scared beyond all reason that he didn't know where "here" was. All he could tell was that evidence of his uncle's latest beating still hurt, and that if he made any noise or attracted any attention to himself he might get another one right on top of it.

With a start, he realized that someone was standing at the entrance to the alley, a girl with long brown hair in a student uniform by the looks of it. He cowered at the sight of her. Uncle Vernon had been very clear about what would happen to him if somebody found him away from home: they'd be even more awful than the Dursleys could ever hope to be, and would send him back with twice as many bruises as his uncle gave him.

Monika was looking sadly at the boy in front of her. How awful must his life have been outside the fourth wall to look at her with such fear? She knelt down and held her hand out to him.

"I won't hurt you, it's okay. I want to help. Can you tell me your name?" she asked, speaking softly so she wouldn't scare him. It didn't appear to work, as he just backed up even further.

"N-No...Y-You're gonna hurt me...and...and take me back to my aunt and uncle's house..." The boy softly whimpered in fear.

"Did your uncle treat you very well?" Monika asked, making Harry flinch. She lowered her hand with a soft sigh. "I bet he didn't. I know someone who is in a similar spot like yours. Her dad doesn't treat her very well, tells her he wants her to grow up. She goes hungry a bunch of nights, and I only knew it was going on after I'd known her for two years. People like her father, your uncle... they're not good people. They hurt kids, make them bottle everything up, react to a lot of things with fear. I promise, I'm not like your uncle. You don't have to trust me, but can I at least know your name?" He was quiet.

"H-Harry...But...But everyone calls me freak..." The boy whimpered out.

Monika's lips formed into a frown as she gently put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I think Harry's a very nice name." She said gently.

r. Harry flinched at the contact, expecting the pain to start any moment. but what the girl was doing felt...nice...

Slowly, he looked up to see her giving him a huge, warm smile. He almost burst into tears right there. Monika reached forward and picked the boy up carefully under his armpits, holding him up to eye level with a smile. "So, Harry... How did you get here, anyway?"

"I...I did the freaky stuff..." Harry replied timidly, looking down. "I ended up here from my...my cupboard... I...I wanted to be somewhere else, so I'm here now..." Monika nodded.

"Okay, I see... Where are you from, Harry?"

"Privet Drive..." The boy replied softly. Monika began to feel a bit giddy despite herself. The boy was from the reality realm! He was real! She could have someone real in her life!

"Well, Harry, you're definitely a long way from your aunt and uncle. I couldn't send you back even if I wanted to. All I can do for you is welcome you, with open arms." Giving the boy a smile, she hugged him close to her bosom.

Never having felt a hug like this before (fuzzy memories as a baby and seeing Dudley recieve them notwithstanding), Harry was slow to hug Monika back, but soon did so tightly for fear that he might discover this was some dream, and that he'd wake up in the cupboard again. He suddenly realized that he didn't know this girl's name, and asked her.

"Oh! Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself, didn't I?" she said, sheepish that her manners had slipped her. "My name is Monika."

"Monika... it's a r-really pretty name," Harry said, a small blush on his face.

"Thank you," she said, smiling at how adorable Harry was. "Harry, since you obviously can't go back to your relatives' home, would you like to stay with me? It's entirely up to you, but don't feel obligated to come just-"

"Yes!" Harry blurted, then went wide eyed at his own reaction. "I-I mean... yes, I would like t-to stay with you." She smiled, and held his hand as they walked out of the alley and down the street. Harry was too busy thinking to notice the lack of people around him, thoughts about his great luck in finding someone so nice and about his future going through his head quickly, like bees or bouncing marbles.

Monika was constantly stealing warm glances at little Harry. This was just too good to be true... She wasn't alone anymore! She had someone real to talk with!

Then she got to thinking. How was she going to explain the situation to him? Would he be able to stomach the news that he was trapped in a video game?

And how was she going to explain this to the girls?

Looking over at Harry, she decided she wanted to carry him. She leaned over carefully and scooped him into her arms, causing him to squeak cutely.

Being entirely honest, Harry was ready to welcome anything that meant more comfortable hug-like things with Monika, and while being picked up was a surprise, he found that he liked his new arrangement, and wrapped his arms around her neck and shoulders as she walked. This had been just enough to drag him from his thoughts and notice his surroundings, and Harry grew uneasy at the lack of any other people around here, not so much as a lit window to deny the possibility that this was a ghost town.

"Uh, Miss M-Monika?" he asked. He reminded himself to try and get rid of his nervous stutter later. "Why isn't there anyone else around here?" She tensed a little bit at the question, and braced herself for his reaction to the news.

"It's because... nobody else has ever been there," she answered. "Those houses are just... there. They were never built for anyone." Harry was still confused, but made an 'oh' of understanding.

Still feeling uncomfortable, he nestled into her some more, looking around nervously. "Are...Are we the only ones here...?" The five year old squeaked out timidly. Monika shook her head.

"No, there are four other people in this town." She explained, opting to sit down on a nearby bench and seat the child on her lap.

Harry was confused. "But why did they make a town if no one's here to live in it?" Monika grinned sheepishly.

"Oh dear, how do I explain this...? Harry, you're in a video game right now."

"A... video game?" Harry asked, face bunched up and head tilted. "But g-games aren't r-real, they're in the TV..."

"I don't know, but you are," Monika admitted. "I'm the only one who knows about it though, the others are still programmed to follow the script of the game."

"But then what are they gonna think of me?" Harry asked. "Will the be nice like you or am I gonna make them hate me?"

Harry looked unsure, and Monika gave him an encouraging smile. "Hey, come on. One's a bucket of sunshine, one's obsessed with cute things like you, and one is too shy to be mean to anyone unless you provoke her." Harry was now staring at her with wide eyes.

"C-Cute...? Me...?" He squeaked out softly, causing Monika to giggle.

"Yep!" She replied, popping the P at the end. "Just the cutest little thing I've ever seen." It wasn't like there was a lot of competition in this place, but hey... He was adorable and he needed a boost in confidence.

The boy was looking lost and confused on how to react. No doubt because no one had ever given him a compliment before, the poor thing.

"Let's get going again, we're almost to my home," Monika said, dragging both of them away from where they'd stopped. "I think you'll like it."

They were silent the rest of the way, comfortably so. Harry was still trying to wrap his head around him being in a video game when Monika announced that they'd arrived, making him look up at the house they were right in front of. It was average, and was similar to the other houses everywhere else with the exception of plants and color choices. He hadn't been expecting something so... normal.

"I'll show you around first, and then get some dinner ready." Harry's stomach growled at the mention of that, making Monika stifle another giggle at his embarassment. "Maybe the other way around then. Come on, I'll whip up something in a heartbeat"

"Do you w-want me t-to m-make it?" Harry asked, looking uncomfortable at the thought of doing nothing. "It's... w-what my aunt a-and uncle had m-me d-do, make them f-food... I g-got scraps if I-I was g-good..."

Monika looked at Harry sadly. "No, I'll make it. People normally don't even touch a stove at your age, let alone use it." She gestured to herself. "I'll make a meal for us, and I'll clean up." Harry nodded, seemingly guilty that he wouldn't be doing a thing. Monika compromised between what he was comfortable with and what was right. "If you want, you can help me." He perked up and nodded eagerly.

Smiling, Monika set up a little standing stool so the boy could reach the counter. "Now...What to make, what to make..." She muttered to herself, looking through the pantries. "Hmm...I guess we could go with breakfast for dinner. Some hasbrowns, some eggs, bacon and all that. What do you think?" She turned to smile at Harry.

"Okay." He said with a nod. Somehow Monika got the feeling that he would have responded the same way even if he didn't like the idea.

Humming to herself, the girl got the supplies ready and ruffled Harry's hair. "All right then, Chef Harry. You're an experienced cook, where shoukd we start?" Harry looked thoughtful.

"I always do bacon first and eggs last..." He replied. Monika nodded.

"Good choice."

Harry was in charge of eggs and hash browns, while Monika took bacon and buttered toast. She kept a close eye on his frying while also watching to make sure the bacon and toast didn't burn. She had to admit that he was good at cooking, but felt bad that he'd learned out of necessity rather than passion. Soon, they'd set out a small feast, and the whole room was warm from their cooking.

"You did great on these, Harry," Monika said, chewing perfectly cooked eggs and potatoes. "You're a real chef, as this meal proves." Harry was again embarassed at the praise, but nodded anyways.

"It's all r-really good," Harry said between bites of bacon and toast, hardly touching his own work. Much as she wanted to work with Harry and help him, Monika knew that conversation would spoil dinner, and so she held her tongue as they ate. Eventually, both plates were empty, Monika having to encourage Harry to eat the eggs and hash browns, and Monika was firm that she would clean up dishes.

"That was fun," she said, yawning after Harry started it. "Guess that means it's time for bed. Come on, let's get ready for bed."

Harry nodded and got up from his chair, moving over to the stairs. Monika tilted her head in confusion. "Harry? Where are you going?" She asked.

Harry was now looking at the stairs, confused. "Um...I'm...looking for the cupboard, but...You don't have one..." And then came an ominous feeling inside Monika's gut.

"Why are you looking for a cupboard?" She asked, knowing full well she was not going to like the answer.

"Isn't that where I'm supposed to sleep?" Harry replied, confused.

Monika's gut twisted, and suddenly she knew what Yuri felt anytime the girl went crazy with a knife in her run.

"No, Harry," she said softly, masking her pity and horror. She hugged him close to her chest as she kept talking, unable to resist holding this poor child who'd gone through so much. "No, no, no, you get a real room and a proper bed, at least while I'm around. You won't sleep in a cupboard, you won't go hungry, you won't be hurt, and you most certainly will never return to those... monsters that you call relatives, I promise." Harry hugged back as tight as he could, his thin ribs and small physique painfully obvious to Monika. Even with all of his strength, Harry's hug still felt so terribly light to her that she suddenly wondered how he even moved around. Harry's silent sobbing make his chest pump and flutter against Monika's, and she rubbed his back.

"It's okay, it's okay, Harry," she said, trying to assure herself with the same phrase. Monika carried Harry upstairs to the bathroom, unsure if it was a good idea to give himself a bath, and also curious to see what all this Vermin had done, and try her best to fix the wrongs he'd committed.

She entered the bathroom and carefully seated the boy on the toilet seat, looking over at him hesitantly. Harry looked confused and somewhat scared. "M-Miss Monika...?" He whimpered. Monika knelt down to give him a quick hug.

"It's okay, sweetie, I'm just gonna give you a bath." She cooed gently. Harry looked scared.

"A bath...? It...It's not gonna burn, is it?! Or be really really cold?!" His panic broke Monika's heart. What had they done to him?

"No, no. It'll be fine, I promise. Let's just get this nasty old rag off..." Carefully, she pulled off the oversized shirt...and almost immediately clapped a hand to her mouth and gasped. "Oh...Oh my God..."

Bruises of every shade covered enough skin that there was less clear than purple or greenish-brown, and scars paler than he was were underneath and over all of them. He had burns and slashes, or at least evidence that they'd healed. The state of his malnutrition was a bigger problem however. His ribs were sunken in so far that Monika swore she could almost see the curve of them on the far side, and his stomach was so far sunken in that she was surprised she couldn't see his spine. What in god's name had they done to him?!

"M-Miss M-M-Monika?' Harry asked, stutter worsening as he watched her face go through shock, revulsion, and fear all at the same time. She looked at him, sadness overtaking everything else as she slowly brought him to her chest yet again, her tears tracking through the dirt on his shoulder as she cried. "W-What's w-wrong?"

"...So much, Harry," she said, still crying. "So much... how are you even alive? In your state, almost anyone would have died!" Her stress made Harry scared, and he answered quickly with terror in his voice.

"I-It's p-probably t-t-the f-freaky s-s-stuff that Uncle V-Vernon t-tried t-t-to beat out of-of me," Harry spluttered, trembling. "He s-s-said t-that I-it would m-make m-m-me n-n-normal, b-better, n-not a f-freak."

Monika's emotions immediately changed from sadness and horror to fury and desire for bloodshed. She felt like a mother bear that was forced to ler her cub's attacker escape...

She wanted to destroy the people who did this to him. She wanted to wring their necks. She wanted to grab the hardest blunt object she could find and bash their heads open. She wanted to rip them apart with her bare hands.

It killed her that these primitive beasts were getting away with their evil actions... If she EVER got to their reality...

Taking a deep breath, she looked down at the scared child. "...I'm gonna take care of you...I promise...I won't let anything hurt you again as long as I'm still breathing."

Harry realized that she wasn't angry with him, and heard what she said after, confusing him.

"But... I-I'm a freak... I have t-to-" he began, but was silenced by Monika.

"You're no freak. You're Harry, a sweet child who went through something terrible at the hands of awful people who can hardly call themselves human. I will tell you something, and believe me when I say it: you are not a freak," she said, trying to hammer in that fact.

He still didn't quite get it, but for the moment Monika focused on getting him clean. Harry was soon undressed and sitting in a very bubbly bath that was soothingly warm, and not the least bit too hot or cold. Monika was gently scrubbing his back with a washcloth, trying to not agitate any injuries, but every once in a while Harry would still wince.

Each time that happened, the girl would apologize and kiss the top of his head gently. It was a soothing feeling...

Monika spent what felt like hours getting the poor thing cleaned up. She had to scrub thoroughly without harming him... Not an easy task considering how much was there... But eventually, she decided she felt content with her work.

She pulled him out carefully and swaddled him up in a big fluffy towel, leaving only his tiny face peeking out. The teen giggled and kissed both of his cheeks gently. "Okay...Now I need to disinfect the wounds, and then we can get you a little snack before bed. You need to eat something."

Opening her medicine cabinet, she found her disinfectant. She used to give it to Yuri when she cut herself in the club, until she found out the purple haired girl wasn't real...

"O-Okay, Miss M-Monika," Harry said, keeping still whenever she rubbed the minty cream over any open wounds he had. It stung a little, but made them feel better after his sores kept being opened over and over. When she finished, Monika realized Harry didn't have any pajamas. Come to think of it, he didn't even have proper clothes!

"I'll have to make some clothes for you later, for now you're stuck in this thing," Monika said, slipping the vastly oversized shirt back on Harry. She would work on that until late tonight, and see if she could still make it on time to... the club, how would they react? She wouldn't leave Harry alone here, so she had to bring him, but he might be overwhelmed by them after he'd just gotten used to her.

She picked Harry up carefully, letting out a deep sigh through her nostrils. Well, she didn't have much of a choice in the matter... The boy was gonna have to come... She'd just have to make sure the girls treated him like fine china.

Shaking her head, she picked the boy up again and went back downstairs to the kitchen, grabbing a handful of crackers for him. "Thank you..." Harry said appreciatively as he accepted the food. Monika smiled as he ate, then began thinking. Would she be able to get him new clothes? In here, she and the other girls were sadly programmed to be stuck with two outfits each, their school uniforms and one casual outfit, which got a bit annoying during the winter portions of the game. Stuck wearing skirts in the snow... Not fun. Hopefully Harry being from the other side would allow him to dress up decently...

While Harry slept in her bed, Monika sat at her desk, trying to think of ways to get clothes for Harry. There was no loose fabric lying around that she could use, and no spares that would fit or even match Harry at all. Then she thought... her power over the game's code wasn't very restricted. If she made a new file for the game, and made some clothes for Harry in the design program, she just might be able to bring some clothes to him.

Checking that he was still asleep, she quickly wrote a note in case he woke up (unlikely as that was, he was out like a light) saying that she'd gone out for a little while to get clothes for him. When she finished that, she vanished in a burst of glitches and code.

The game files were expansive, but she'd figured out how to move around in here a long time ago. The tools to make things were left in the finished game, so she went to those and got to work in the "studio." She made a 3D model of Harry to work off of, and began making things: pants, shirts, socks, underwear, shoes, and gloves and jackets for Winter parts. With that done, she saved her work into a file titled "wardrobe," and sent that to her own closet back at her home. With that, she returned amidst another burst of code.

Lo and behold, Harry was still fast asleep in her bed, snoring softly. Monika smiled at the sight and took a deep breath. The poor boy had suffered so much... Could she truly make his pain go away?

She didn't know for sure if she could help him...But she would absolutely try.

She carefully climbed into bed next to him, taking great care not to wake him. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him close, and he snuggled into her subconsciously.

**And there's the end of chapter one. Please help me...**


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Monika woke up before Harry, and smiled as she continued snuggling him until he woke up. After close to ten minutes, Harry yawned and slowly opened his eyes. Since the first thing he saw was Monika's smiling face, he knew that he was really here, and hadn't just dreamed up a better life to escape from the Dursleys. His snuggle turned into a hug, and Monika giggled.

"Morning to you too," she said, rubbing the top of his head. She untangled herself, and walked over to her wardrobe. She grabbed her uniform and picked out an outfit for Harry, handing him the clothes on her way to the bathroom. "These are for you, along with the other clothes in there. I'll meet you down in the kitchen when we're both dressed." Harry nodded at her, and took off his shirt to get dressed.

Monika stopped in the doorway for a moment, staring at Harry's back. His bruises were gone. Not turned green and brown, not on the way to healing, gone. Maybe this was the "freaky stuff" he'd talked about? She shook her head, deciding to ask him on the way to school.

After a simple breakfast of cereal, Monika was now carrying Harry down the street. She was in no real rush. There were no real classes to go to, so her only real obligation in this world was to be at the literature club.

Currently, Monika was considering how to introduce Harry to the other girls. She had come up with a believable story that her parents had adopted and she was to watch him. She just wondered how Harry would effect the events of how things would play out...

Then she remembered. "Harry? Your bruises...How did they heal so quickly?" She asked, cutting right to the chase.

He jumped, his eyes wide. She saw?! He thought up an excuse as quick as he could. "I-I... w-what b-b-bruises?" Nailed it. Monika giggled at the attempt.

"Harry, you're not in trouble," she said, holding a hand over her mouth as her shoulders shook. "I was just asking because normally bruises take a week or so to fade, but yours were gone in a few hours. Is it the 'freaky stuff' you mentioned?" Harry knew he'd been caught, but was still nervous as he answered.

"Y-Yes... I don't k-know w-why it happens, b-but things are w-weird around m-me."

"Like what?" Monika asked, putting friendly curiosity into her words.

"I-I once g-got a really bad h-haircut the d-day before s-school s-started, b-but my hair g-grew back the w-way it was d-during the n-night," Harry said, twisting his shirt with the hand not holding Monika's. She asked him to go on, and he told her more.

hanging the colours of various things... Appearing in places he never intended to... And many more besides. Monika looked thoughtful.

"I...Can't say I know what to make of this, Harry. I've never heard anything like it before." She said calmly. Harry looked down. "But don't be upset about it. Healing from these nasty wounds is a very good thing."

"But-" Monika put a finger over his mouth to silence him.

"I don't want to hear you say you deserved it. You didn't. No one deserves to be treated like that, especially not you. Do you understand?"

Harry whimpered slightly in confusion and nodded.

In the real world...

The headmaster of Hogwarts, a man with far too many names, was puzzled and slightly disgusted. The cause of his puzzlement was the recent disappearance of one Harry Potter, a very famous child. The cause of his disgust was himself, and the Dursleys.

He couldn't express with words how much he regretted placing Harry with them, especially after looking through Petunia and Vernon's memories. He admitted that Minerva had been right from the start about them, even if it wasn't much help to acknowledge the fact now.

A knock roused him, and he composed himself before allowing in whoever was at the door with a peaceful "enter." A raging storm disguised as Professor McGonogall stomped in, fury thundering across her features.

"Albus, I just got word of what happened," she hissed. Dumbledore did his best to not flinch. "Would you mind explaining why I heard of such terrible things happening to the boy YOU LEFT ON THE DURSLY'S DOORSTEP?!"

"Minerva, I share your pain, and this mistake is one of innumerable others that I've made, I realize that. I know now that you were right," Dumbledore admitted. "He had no place in that house, despite them being related. Apologies will do nobody any good, however, and I'm currently doing my utmost to find him." Her fury was still present, and she vented to the only one present.

"For your own sake, Albus, pray that you find him. You'd do well to remember that it was me who said 'no' when you tried to put him there in the first place," she said, temper going cold as she fell into the chair across from the headmaster. "... How can human beings do such things to a child, Albus, a child?! Burned, beaten, starved, living out of a cupboard under the stairs, it's no wonder he's vanished!"

Hearing the usually stern woman so broken yanked Dumbledore's heartstrings, and he walked around his desk to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. Her sobbing was the only sound in the office, a sound born of very deep pain.

Back in the game world, Monika arrived at the school's clubroom, setting Harry down on top of one of the desks. "Okay, sweetie, the other girls should be here soon. Don't be nervous, okay?" Harry nodded slowly, trying to fight back his nervousness.

Smiling, Monika turned back to the door, just in time for a familiar girl with short orange hair walk in. "Monikaaaa!" Sayori cheered. "Hi! How was your weekend?!"

"Oh, it was...eventful. Yours?" Monika replied, to which Sayori's smile became a bit strained.

"Heheh...Well, I kinda slept through most of it..." She replied, tapping her fingers together. Monika rolled he eyes fondly. Classic clumsy Sayori...

"Oh, um...By the way...You remember that friend I told you I'd bring i today? Well, I'm sorry, but I can't find him anywhere..."

So it was true. There was no player character this time around... She was in charge now...

Her thoughts were intrrupted when Sayori noticed that she was blocking something from view. "Ooh, what's that?" She asked, peeking over Moniika's shoulder and getting her very first look at Harry.

"Aww! He's so cute!" she said, hands on her cheeks. "What's his name? Why-"

"Sayori!" Monika said loudly, temper flaring as Harry cowered. "Please, back off!"

"Whoah, whoah, fine, geez," Sayori said, surprised. "Why the hostility?"

"He's very shy, and right now he's still getting used to being here," she said, calmer now. "He just moved from out of town, and isn't used to lot's of people. I'm trying to help him get used to the school." Sayori looked guilty now.

"I'm sorry if I scared you... what's your name?" Sayori asked, keeping her distance.

"M-My n-name is Harry," he answered, nervously twisting his shirt again. "You d-didn't scare m-me too b-bad."

Sayori let out a delighted giggle at his response. "Aww, you're just too adorable! Can I hug you?" Harry looked at her nervously.

"Oh...Um...Okay, I guess..."

"Yay!" Sayori cheered before wrapping her arms around him and giving him a tight [but not too tight] hug.

'That's Sayori done,' Monika thought, sighing in relief. 'Two to go.' Right on time, Yuri and Natsuki came in together, talking to each other.

"... So my foot's totally stuck in there right, I'm freaking out, the dog's having a seizure, and I still have half a pie left-" Natsuki was saying, but stopped herself at the sight of Harry sitting next to Monika. "Hello, cutie! What's your name?"

"I-I-I..." Harry sputtered, but was relieved when Monika placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

"I'll take care of this, if you want." He nodded, and Monika turned to everyone else. "This is Harry, and I'll be explaining why he's here, since he's very shy and hadn't been introduced to anyone."

She went on to explain that her parents had adopted him, but were so busy that he couldn't stay home and she'd decided to take him to school with her. His backstory was left vague for Harry's sake, but they could infer enough to feel angry at the Dursleys for what they'd done.

Each of the girls gave the boy a sympathetic expression. While they were unclear as to just how bad it was, they could clearly infer that someone had abused this boy.

Sayori very nearly cried, and she absolutely would have if she'd known the full scope of it. She hated it when people treated others unfavourably! Everyone deserved happiness, to deny this right to anyone, let alone a child, was sick and wrong!

Yuri remembered reading various books where a character was abused. She always violently despised the ones who would so blatantly torment their own flesh and blood... To think that someone would intentionally harm such a helpless looking child was sickening, and she found herself with a desire to to use her knife collection on someone besides herself...

Natsuki's reaction, however, was the strongest. She tried to maintain a calm demeanour, but Monika could tell she was having a hard time dealing with it by the expression on her face.

The pink haired girl understood how it felt to be abused... Sure, her father never laid a hand on her himself, but he always got on her case over her interests, often to the point of yelling, and he hadn't prepared her a single meal since her mother died. She looked at Harry and approached, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"...I know how you feel."

Harry looked in her eyes and nodded, seeing Natsuki for what she was, and knowing how she felt. He saw that she was like him: hungry, and left hungry for a long time, for so long that she hadn't grown up. He also knew what she meant, so when he spoke, he only said,

"... Thank you." It was the first time he hadn't stuttered.

After the introductions were over, Harry was invited to join in the discussions of the club, and was offered a picture book to jump into when he got bored (he was grateful, since he couldn't read very well, and they mostly talked about things they'd been doing or books they'd read). A few hours passed, and it was time to go.

"I'll see if I can make something for the club tomorrow," Natsuki said, before turning to Harry. "Are you alright with cupcakes?"

"I-I've n-never had o-one," Harry said, smiling. " But, sure, I'll try one."

"Her cupcakes are amazing, you're almost guaranteed to love them," Monika said, remembering the time she'd had one. "Let's hurry, it's getting dark. Bye everyone!" They all said their goodbyes, and then Harry was walking next to Monika back to her home... their home.


	3. Chapter 3

After breakfast the next morning, Monika was carrying Harry down the street towards the school. "MONIKAAAAA!" Before Monika could turn around, she found herself getting hugged from behind. A smile came to her face.

"Good morning, Sayori. How are you feeling today?" Sayori chuckled nervously.

"Well, I overslept again, so I had to run all the way here..." She replied sheepishly.

"Overslept is right. School is long over." Monika chided lightly, causing Sayori to look down.

"I know..." She mumbled. "But at least I get to walk to the club with you and Harry!" She said cheerfully.

Speaking of Harry, he was happy that Sayori was with them, but worried what would happen when her and the others found out about his freakishness. Nothing had happened for the last few days, here and in the real world, and he had a feeling that something would happen.

"What about you, Harry?" Sayori asked, making him jump.

"W-what?" he asked. Sayori smiled at him.

"I was wondering which you prefer: Summer or Winter." Harry thought about the two seasons, and recalled what happened during both last year.

In the Summer, the Dursleys made him work in the yard all day, giving him terrible sunburn and splinters in his fingers. The heat was often such that he'd dragged himself beneath the bushes just to stop from falling unconscious from heat stroke.

Winter was even worse though. The cold crept from his fingers up his arms while he salted the driveway and shoveled snow, turning his arms into blocks of ice. The plants were all dead and turned to twigs, leaving him nowhere to hide from Dudley and his gang when they decided to chase him. He shuddered out of his thoughts and answered Sayori.

"I-I-I d-don't r-really l-like e-e-either o-one," Harry said, Monika giving him a concerned look when his stutter worsened. Sayori didn't notice this, and pouted.

"Aww, but they're both so fun! You get to go to the beach, you get to go camping, you can go ice skating, you can go skiing..."

"Sayori, I'm pretty sure at this point you've given all of us a dislike of winter. You always seem to drag us into your blunders." Sayori blushed at Monika's teasing.

"I mean, falling in the snow a couple times isn't THAT big a deal..."

"But falling in the snow fifteen times in a row in the weirdest positions sure is." Sayori huffed.

"Okay then, Harry... Spring or Autumn?"

Harry smiled. Now these were seasons he could appreciate. Both occasionally got cold or hot, but working outside was mostly pleasant during these parts of the year. He remembered how fun the leves were in Autumn (when they were dry), and all of the birdsong in Spring was lovely.

"I-I l-like both," Harry said, getting a smile from the two girls. They arrived at the school with time to spare, and smelled one particular heavenly aroma upon entering the club. "W-What is t-that s-smell?"

"My cupcakes!" Natsuki said, bouncing in place. "If you think they smell good, they taste even better! Here try one." Harry was given a cupcake, and he immediately took a bite. He hardly came up for air as he aste the rest of it quickly. "Wow, you really like them, huh?"

Harry looked down with a small blush on his face and nodded his head. "U-Uh-huh... Thank you, Miss Natsuki, it was really good..." He said softly. Natsuki grinned proudly.

"Oh yeah, they sure are!" She said, beaming with pride. "Here, have another!" She handed the boy a second cupcake, which he took gratefully.

"Heh... Make sure you don't give him too many. Don't wanna spoil his dinner or anything." Monika chided lightly.

"Nah, he's fine," Natsuki waved her off, setting the cupcakes in the middle of a table so everyone could get some. Harry spent his time in this book club session curled against Monika's side, finished with Natsuki's cupcakes and tired enough that he began to doze halfway through the meeting.

"That's pretty adorable," Yuri pointed out, to the agreement of everyone else. She was curious about the full story behind the rather nasty scars she could see, and decided to pry just a little. "Monika, you never did give a detailed account of Harry's last home... what happened, exactly?" Monika shuddered. She checked that Harry wouldn't wake up, and hesitantly began speaking.

"... If you really have to know... from what he told me, his last home wasn't his first either. He lived with his aunt and uncle, along with their son. I don't know what happened to his parents. His... relatives were as cruel and savage to him as a cat to a mouse, without the promise of death. He was beaten by his uncle, chased by his cousin, starved by his aunt, and forced to be a slave in their house." Natsuki, along with everyone else, was releasing tears of some kind; she clenched her fists.

"What could possibly make someone want to hurt him?!" she said angrily, quiet so as not to wake Harry.

"As far as I can tell," Monika said, "he has what I can only call magic, and they were trying to get it out of him. It was always accidents, harmless things like changing the color of a shirt or suddenly being somewhere else, but it was enough for them to hate him apparently."

"Those beasts!" Yuri said, wearing a grimace. "I'd like to give them a taste of their own medicine, see how they like being tortured."

Sayori said nothing, just staring forward with an expression of teary-eyed shock.

Everyone was silent for a while. "...Monika, you said he has magic, but are you sure it's not just coincidence?" Yuri asked with a tilted head. "Perhaps the clothes shrank in the wash? And maybe he simply seems to appear in other places because he's difficult to notice?" Monika expected skepticism.

"No, Yuri. Ths morning I saw him appear in the kitchen right after he finished using the washroom. No footsteps or anything, he was just there."

The occult interest in Yuri sparked, but her logical side remained at the forefront. "Hmm... No offense, Monika, but I'll have to see this magic with my own eyes before I can really believe in it." Monika nodded.

"Fair enough. It's a tough pill to swallow."

While Harry having magic was an interesting topic, they eventually moved on.

"How has he been around the house?" Sayori asked. Monika wilted a little.

"It's... tough. Not for me, but Harry has a tendency to kind of... behave like he's back with his relatives." She further explained, "He insists that he helps cook meals, has to be encouraged to eat, and his first night there he tried to find a cupboard under the stairs to sleep in."

"God..." Yuri said, summing up everyone's thoughts. "... I for one refuse to allow him to feel like that again."

"Same here," Natsuki said, echoing Sayori. Monika smiled.

"Thanks, it's nice to know that you all feel like that."

"What were you expecting, more Dursleys? How could we possibly hurt him?" Natsuki said. She pointed at the small magician curled against Monika "Just look at how cute he is!"

Monika giggled softly at the pinkette's response and ran her fingers through the boy's hair. "Yeah... He is cute..."

The girls all stayed silent for a few moments, not having much to say, just opting to smile at the sleeping Harry.

Then, Monika looked over at the girls and had a thought.

They had unique, special reactions to Harry... They weren't following a script of any kind... It had been so long since they had said anything she hadn't already heard...

Was it possible that they too could become self aware?

Was it possible that Harry could help them see their world for what it was?

These thoughts followed her all the way to the dinner table later that night. With Harry's help, they'd made fettuccine alfredo (he disliked tomato sauce) and were both eating quietly across from one another, Harry's plate smaller than Monika's. The boy thought Monika had been unusually quiet, and for the first time he was the one to start a conversation.

"Is e-everything o-okay?" he asked, habitual stutter making him sound more worried than he was. "Y-You're quiet." Monika blinked a few times as she dragged herself from her thoughts.

"I'm totally fine, I was just thinking about something is all," she said, being honest with him. "... You remember what I said the first day you came here? About how the other girls don't know that this is a game?" Harry nodded. "I was thinking about how they might change. They aren't going by a script when they talk now, so I'm wondering if you can make them... alive, for lack of a better word."

"M-Me? How w-would I d-do that?" Harry asked. "I-I'm... Harry, j-just Harry."

In his home on Hogwarts grounds, Hagrid sneezed.

"I doubt that," Monika said, smiling and rising from her seat. She walked around the table and hugged Harry's head to her chest. "You're Harry, but you're also strong, and brave, and kind." Harry was confused.

"B-But, I'm always s-scared, I-I c-can't even l-lift a pan, and I-I stutter, h-how am I those things?" Monika patiently explained it to him.

"You're brave, because you faced your fear every day, even when you were scared you faced it. You're strong, because you pushed on through a terrible place and found a better one. And your stutter? It's nothing to be ashamed of." Harry beamed at her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Th-Thank you..." He mumbled out softly. Monika giggled and picked him up, giving him a tight hug.

"You're welcome, sweetie." She cooed, rubbing his back gently and rocking him back and forth. They stayed like this for a few more moments before Monika sat him back down to finish his meal.

"So here's the plan...I'm thinking you could spend time with each of them. Get to really bond with them. They already really like you." Harry was taken aback.

"They do...? Really...?" He asked softly, eliciting a giggle from the girl.

"Well of course. You're very loveable." She replied, causing the boy to squeak cutely and cover his face with a blush. "Case in point." Monika said with a bright smile.

"Thank you..." Harry squeaked out once more, barely audible from the pitch of his voice.

"You're welcome." Monika kissed his head. "Now, I might ask them to babysit you at some points so you can spend more time with them. Maybe you'll even spend the night with them."

Monika trusted all of the girls to watch Harry for a night. He would have a ton of fun with Sayori, Yuri was more than responsible enough to take care of him, and Natsuki was no problem either. Her father was strict and overbearing, but when she wasn't messing with his code, at the end of the day, he was just a big grouch who didn't understand his daughter and missed his deceased wife. He always came around eventually in Natsuki's route, there was no reason he shouldn't here.

"That m-might b-be fun," Harry said. Monika grew worried when a pout made itself known, and he voiced his thoughts. "Y-you'll still b-be here, r-right? I-I-I c-can c-come b-b-back if I-I-I w-want, r-right?" Monika gently squeezed his hand from across the table.

"Of course you can," she assured him. "If you don't feel like staying with them, or just want to come back, for any reason at all, you can." She suddenly had an idea. "Hey, after dinner, why don't we go for a walk, so you know your way around?" Harry nodded, and dug into his pasta with gusto so they could leave sooner.

They got their shoes and jackets, and walked out into the evening air. It was quiet, only crickets were making noise, and the sunset was beautiful. Monika pointed out noticeable homes, and her friends' homes when they passed by.

Harry made sure to commit these homes to memory. That way, he'd know what to do if he ever got lost.

As they walked, Monika had a realization. "Oh! Harry! I totally forgot to ask how old you are!" She exclaimed, turning to the boy with a smile.

"Oh! Um... I'm...I'm five, Miss Monika..." He said softly. Monika tilted her head and frowned.

"Well...Danger or not, I sure don't want you out here alone at night. Guess I'll have to come get you myself then~!"


	4. Chapter 4

Dumbledore was grasping at straws in his search for Harry. The baubles littering one of the tables in his office were utterly useless, except for the one that told him whether or not Harry was alive. Currently that answer was yes, and he prayed that it would remain that way. The headmaster of Hogwarts looked out over Scottish mountains and the black lake, wondering one question.

"Where are you, Harry?" he asked the empty room. Fawks chirped at him, and combusted.

Back in Doki Doki Literature Club, Monika was running her fingers through Harry's hair as he fell asleep, reading one of her favorite stories to him.

"... And so they did. With sacks in their hands, that they used for carrying off mutton and other plunder, they waited in the shadows. As each dwarf came up and looked at the fire, and the spilled jugs, and the gnawed mutton, in surprise, pop! went a nasty smelly sack over his head, and he was down."

She stopped to check on Harry, and found him sound asleep. She smiled as she whispered, "Oh come on, this is Tolkien's less long-winded one. You could have at least stayed awake to the part where they turn to stone." She leaned down to kiss his head, and Monika wondered when she got so motherly as she carried him up to bed.

She tucked him in up to his little chin and gave him a warm smile and a kiss on the forehead. She watched him sleep with a smile...before hearing a knock on the door.

"Hmm? That's weird... I never get visitors..." Monika mumbled as she walked downstairs and opened the door.

Much to her surprise, there stood Sayori. She was looking down at the ground and tapping her fingers together nervously. "Sayori! Hi! What brings you to my neighbourhood?" Monika asked, smiling brightly. Sayori said nothing, and Monika frowned. "Sayori?"

"Monika...I'm...I'm scared...M-My best friend's been missing for two days, and my parents aren't answering my calls, and I'm scared something bad happened to them, and I...I don't wanna be alone right now..."

Seeing Sayori's scared, miserable state, everything became clear to Monika... Sayori's depression and fears were beginning to overwhelm her.

Monika brought her friend inside and made some tea, the only thing she could think to do at the moment, and talked to Sayori as she waited for the water to boil. She sat down next to her and held her hands in a reassuring manner.

"Tell me what's wrong, Sayori," Monika told her, a worried look on her features. Sayori seemed on the verge of tears.

"I don't know!" she said, distressed. "Everyone I know is suddenly gone, and I couldn't find anyone on my way here! Even the police aren't answering, Monika! Where is everyone?!" Monika was shocked to say the least, but knew what was going on. She sighed.

"This is going to be a difficult conversation," she muttered, turning around to get the tea. "So you saw that everyone was gone, right?" Sayori nodded, accepting a warm cup. "This is going to sound impossible, weird, and like the babblings of an insane person, but it's the truth that you, Natsuki, and Yuri haven't seen before." Monika had her full attention.

"Where are you going with this? What don't I know?" Sayori asked, before gulping her tea.

"Sayori, how many interactive novels have you played?" Monika asked, getting a confused look from Sayori.

"A few, maybe five or so," she answered.

"Can you remember the last three years of school, if you can, tell me what you remember." Monika thought figuring it out for herself might lessen the shock. Sayori's face bunched up.

"Well, I can remember the club when we first made it, and..." she went wide eyed, searching her memories. "And... a-and... and n-nothing else..." more things fell into place; the season and time skips, her two outfits, and her very scripted life. She'd been nothing more than a puppet, and hadn't realized it. She held her hands over her mouth and began to cry. "Oh god... we're in a game..."

Monika grabbed her friend's hands. "Sayori..."

"It's not real...We're not real... It's all a lie... It's all a big fat lie..." The girl began to hyperventilate.

Monika hurriedly pulled the shorter girl into an embrace. "Shhh... It's okay, Sayori... This world isn't real, but we are."

"How does that make it any better?!" Sayori wailed. "We're trapped, Monika! We're trapped in a fake world with no way out!"

"Sayori..."

"How can you be so calm about this?! We're never gonna know what the real world is like!"

"Sayori..."

"What's the point?! Why keep living like this?!"

"Sayori, no!" Monika yelled firmly, silencing the girl. "I know what you're thinking and I won't let you!" She grabbed the girl by the shoulders and glared sternly. "Now just listen to me." Sayori hesitated before nodding numbly.

Monika took a deep breath. "Sayori... There is hope for us to reach the other side. After all...That's where Harry came from."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean? How did he get here?" Sayori asked, even more confused.

"The same way he changes the colors of shirts and goes into different rooms on accident," Monika said. "He wanted to get away from the Dursleys so bad, to be anywhere else but there, that he forced himself in here."

"Well that doesn't really help," Sayori sighed. "Might as well get used to all of this then. How did you take it when you found out?"

"I freaked, tried to rebel against the system, and did a bunch of things... that I later regretted," she said, thinking of her own run. "I reached the player a few times, but that's a rarity. With Harry here, I don't know what will happen."

Sayori hugged her knees and bit her lip with a whimper. "...I don't know if I can deal with this, Monika..." She replied. "What if there's really no way out?"

"There is. There has to be. Harry got in, so there must be a way out."

"...Monika, what are we gonna tell the others?"

"Well...I think it's best that they find out on their own."

Sayori ended up staying the night. The next morning, Monika and Harry were up and cooking before Sayori got out of bed, making croissants, diced fruit, and ham slices. Harry had been told what happened, and not-so-subtly given Sayori a bigger helping of fruit than him and Monika.

"Thanks you two," Sayori said, sitting down to breakfast. The almost unnoticeable bags under her eyes were a clear sign she hadn't gotten much sleep. "Sorry if I made a mess in your guest room, Monika."

"Believe me, I get it. It's no problem," Monika said, holding her hand. Harry offered his own support by grabbing her other one. Sayori smiled.

The three ate breakfast in relative silence. Monika and Harry tried to talk to Sayori, but her simple and to the point answers made it clear that she wasn't really in any mood to talk.

Sayori let out a yawn and Monika smiled. "Hey, it's the weekend, so why not go ahead and go back to sleep after breakfast?" Monika offered. Sayori nodded.

"That sounds nice..."

When Sayori vanished up the stairs, Harry gave Monika a concerned look. She put his fears to rest before he could voice them.

"She's alright, she just has to think things over. She realized what was happening last night," she explained.

"Y-You mean... s-she's l-like you n-now?" Harry asked. Monika thought about that.

"Not quite, but I think she will be." They went back to eating breakfast, and since it was a weekend, Monika continued to read to Harry for a few hours.

Sayori came back down at around two, looking like she was a bit more prepared to face the world. "Thanks, Monika..." She said gratefully.

"Hey, it's no problem. Stay as long as you want." Monika replied with a smile. She really hoped Sayori would take her up on her offer. She really had to keep an eye on her now that she had the same existential dread she did.

Sayori looked down shyly. "I'm glad you said that... I was gonna ask if I could stay a few more nights... It's... It's scary...Y'know?" Monika nodded.

"Yes, I know. Move in if you want, we'd be glad to have you!" Monika was only half joking.

"...I'd like that...Better than living alone..."

Harry smiled at her from his seat in Monika's lap. They collectively decided to have a layabout day, which somehow devolved into a contest of long sighing.

"Haaaaahh..." Sayiri breathed, glancing at Monika. "Boom."

"It's not most relaxed sighing, it's longest," Monika said, falsely exasperated. "Here: haaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh... like that." Sayori just gave a 'humph,' convinced that her sigh was still better. Harry decided to join in, and gave it his best shot.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh..." he sighed, surprising the two girls. "H-How was t-that?"

"Well, you beat us," Monika said, "so I'd say pretty good."

"Yeah, I don't think I have the lungs for that. Where did you learn to hold your breath like that, Harry?" Sayori asked. As soon as Harry's face got scared, she knew she'd made a mistake. Monika answered for him.

"When he first got here, he had a problem with baths, and was scared that the one I gave him would be burning or freezing," Monika said, tone cold as she hugged Harry. Sayori was wide eyed.

"So they... it was just hot and cold, was it?" She was almost afraid of the answer. Harry shook his head.

"U-Uncle V-V-Vernon l-liked t-to hold m-m-me under," he said. He was grounded by Monika's hug, and it was the only reason he was crying right now. "I-I-I only g-got b-baths o-once a m-month, b-but they w-were t-too hot o-o-or c-cold, a-and I-I a-always g-got held under..."

Sayori lived to make others happy. It was what kept her going. She always did her best to try and stay happy and positive for her loved ones.

But after hearing that? About such a blatantly evil act, done to a tiny, innocent boy like Harry?

Sayori couldn't stay happy in front of Harry right now. She was absolutely heartbroken.

In tears, she ran forward and embraced the child alongside Monika, who shot her a small smile.

"Oh my God I'm so sorry..." Sayori whimpered. "I'm so sorry he did that to you...I just...I'm sorry..."

Harry let out a whimper between his sobs. "But...But you didn't do anything... Why are you sorry...?"

"I know I didn't do it... I'd NEVER...But...But it's just so wrong and...and it makes me sick just thinking about it..."

The girl ended up taking the boy from Monika as his sobs increased. Monika smiled sadly and sat down, allowing her friend to console her Harry.

Sayori felt terrible with each little sob that came through the boy's mouth. But, much to her own disgust, she felt her own depression getting worse.

Sayori began to have very dark thoughts about herself. 'I'm such a joke... I have no right to be depressed when Harry's been through that kind of treatment... Why won't it just go away?!' Frustrated, Sayori tried to take her mind off of these thoughts and focus on the crying child.

Monika watched Sayori's face go through these emotions, and decided to put a stop to it. She walked over and hugged both her and Harry, and told them both something.

"Sayori, don't feel guilt over your depression. It's a disease, something you can't control. Don't feel bad that you have to deal with the symptoms," she said, doing her best to reassure her friend. "Harry, don't be afraid. Let go of your fear. None of us will hurt you, ever, and we won't let the Dursleys either. We'll help you get through this, and I'll always be right here to help you." The two hugged Monika tightly, giving up on holding in tears.

When that was over, everyone felt a little better, and they tried to figure out what to do next.

Monika rose to her feet with a smile. "Oh! I just remembered, I need to go and restock on food!" She exclaimed. Sayori tilted her head.

"Um...How exactly do stores work here? Do you just go in and take what you need?"

"More or less." Monika shrugged. "Hey, Sayori, can you watch Harry for me?"

"Sure, I can do that for a while," Sayori said. Monika promised to be back quick, and left the two alone. It was suiet for a moment, and then Harry turned to Sayori.

"W-What do y-you want t-to do?" he asked. Sayori tapped her chin in thought. Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she smiled.

"How about we make a pillow fort?" she suggested, which Harry was clueless how to do.

"How? I-I've never m-made one." Sayori smiled.

"You don't need to know how to make one. If it's made of pillows and supports its own weight it counts," she explained. Harry admitted to himself that even pillows were harmless, and agreed to try and make a fort out of them.

Half an hour later, Monika returned to Harry and Sayori in the process of setting up yet another pillow fort. "Okay, this is the one. I know it!" Sayori said confidently, adding the final pillow...

Only for the whole thing to collapse in on itself. "Aww..." Sayori pouted. "I never get this right..." Monika chuckled as she stepped in the room.

"How many times has it fallen over?" She asked with a raised brow.

"Seventeen..." Sayori replied with a pout.

Monika entered the kitchen and set the groceries down before coming back in.

"All right, I'll help you set up the pillow fort. But I kinda feel like taking a nap after that, so I need you to watch Harry for a bit longer."

The reality of the situation was that she wanted to let Sayori and Harry bond.

"That's fine, have fun," Sayori said sarcastically. She turned around to try again, but couldn't see Harry anywhere. "Harry?" A mumble came from beneath the recently destroyed pillow fort. Sayori tried looking for him, but the sheer number of pillows and Harry's giggling told her that he wouldn't be easy to find.

Meanwhile, Harry was having fun hiding from Sayori. For once he was thankful for his small size, as it allowed him to leave the pillows around him undisturbed as he wiggled around. His stifled laughter only served to distract the girl looking for him, and he delighted in her false frustration.

After a few minutes of hiding, crawling, and ignoring of Sayori's pleas that he reveal himself, Harry relented and attacked her when her back was turned. The seventy or so pounds of wizard thumping into and tickling her sides was enough to make Sayori fall forward into his domain with a squeal.

Harry sat on her back as he tickled her, grinning at her cries for help gasped between laughs and giggles.

"Harry! *snort* Ple-heeheease!" she shouted. He finally stopped after only last jab at her sides, and the two splayed out to rest atop the pillows.

Monika listened to the laughter from her own bedroom and smirked. "Monika, you are a genius." She said to herself.

The laid on the pillows, and Sayori looked back over at Harry. She considered tickling him back as revenge...

But that thought went down as quickly as she thought about it. He still had bruises and cuts. She could aggravate the injuries.

Then she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

A large feather from one of the pillows...

Harry never knew what hit him. Sayori was vicious and deadly quick in her assault, her victim wasn't able to even defend himself. It was his turn to squeal and beg for mercy, though considering the turned tables, Sayori was fresh out.

"No m-more, Sayor-eeee! AAAAHHH!" Harry begged, getting a taste of his own medicine with Sayori holding him down and going for the kill with her feather.

"No mercy for you, Harry! Muahahaha!" Sayori proclaimed, laughing maniacally. "I might stop... in ten minutes!"

"Nohohoho!" Harry protested, trying to push away her hand. She punished this by swiping his armpit, making him retract his arm with a yelp. This battle continued for another two minutes despite Sayori's promise for ten, and at last the battle was over.

"Even?" Sayori panted, turning to the boy who was exhausted.

"Even," Harry confirmed, tiredly flopping an arm on top of the pillows and cushions.

The two sat up after a while and decided to sit down in the pillow fort Monika helped them set up. Sayori turned on the TV.

It was surprising just how much was on, considering there was likely no one running the network...

After flipping through the channels for a bit, Sayori settled on some show about a sentient aardvark named Arthur learning everyday lessons.

Totally for Harry.

Not at all because she was into it. Really!

When things got quiet for a while (and after she'd had a nap), Monika went downstairs to check up on Harry and Sayori. What she saw was chaos, plain and simple. The livingroom looked like a tornado had gone through, slelectively tossing the cushions and pillows around, and a blanket or three was mixed in. The TV now had Ben 10 playing, some trashy reboot instead of the original, but the two on the couch weren't watching it.

Harry was in Sayori's lap, head tilted back and mouth hanging, while he hugged one of her arms. Sayori had her head leand away from Harry's, her free hand being used as a pillow. Monika took a picture of the adorable scene before she went into the kitchen to make dinner.

Harry woke up before Sayori, but was still tired and just hazily held her arm tighter and snuggled up closer to her. Eventually all three occupants of the house were wide awake, and had dinner together.

Sayori had Harry, now calmed down and mellow, in her lap, and was now spoonfeeding him with a big, genuine smile on her face. Monika smiled at the sight.

"So I see you two had fun with the pillow fort." She teased, causing them both to wince, Sayori sheepishly, Harry in shame.

"I'm...I'm sorry... I don't know why I did it..." Harry squeaked out. "I started having fun being in the pillows, and...and... I...I just don't know..." He found himself feeling embarrassed and ashamed.

"Harry, you're allowed to have fun. Nothing got broken, it'll be an easy clean, everything is just fine." Monika said gently.

He was still uncomfortable at the thought of not being in trouble for something, but nodded at Monika anyway. Sayori squeezed him slightly and bumped her head into Harry's while she giggled.

"Relax, alright? Monika said it best: we're not the Dursleys. You can ask questions, have fun, talk about things, and being that it's you we're talking about, I don't think you'll ever get in trouble around here," Sayori said, when a thought struck her. "Hey, Monika? Aren't you kinda Harry's... Momika?" Monika blushed while Sayori laughed at her expression. Harry found her laugh funny (he didn't understand her joke), and so he began to laugh as well, and soon Monika did as well.

"Yeah, I guess I kind of am." Monika replied with a smile and a shrug. "And proud of it." Sayori smiled. Harry still didn't quite understand, but he assumed it was a good thing.

After dinner, the three of them decided to watch a little TV before bed.

Sayori was getting mad at the movie they were watching. They'd found the first few minutes of a romance on TV, and the characters seemingly refused to do anything but be awkward with each other.

"JUST! KISS! ALREADY!" Sayori said, palms pressed to her eyes. Harry was spooked by her outburst, but was comforted by Monika rubbing his shoulder while side-hugging him on the couch.

"Sayori, you do realize that they eventually will, right?" Monika asked. "It's a romance movie, it will probably be a dramatic moment towards the end."

"That's the problem: I've seen this freaking movie before, and-... just watch, I won't spoil the dissapiontment." True to her word, it was a dramatic scene at the end, but neither one kissed. "SEE?! Guuhh, I hate this movie for that exact reason!"

"Wow, first time I've seen that happen," Monika commented.

Harry was very confused. "Um...It's up to them when they kiss, Miss Sayori... Maybe they just don't want you watching them...?" Harry commented.

"But I wanna see them kiss." Sayori whined. "I ship it."

"Ship it? But there aren't any boats..."

"No, I mean they're my OTP!"

"Oh...Your... Only Two Pals...?"

Monika could barely hold in her laughter at the awful miscommunication going on.

"I think I'd better explain that," she said, hand over her mouth. "Usually, Harry, movies like this end with the main characters expressing their love, more often than not by kissing. OTP is an acronym, and stands for 'one true pairing.' Finally, to 'ship' something is to want to see two characters fall in love, and is therefore the 'ship' in 'relationship.'" Harry gave an "oh" of understanding.

"I see... so Miss Sayori wanted an obvious ending? Why would she want to see that?" Harry asked. Sayori groaned, and Monika stifled even more giggles. "What?"

"This movie's dumb..." Sayori grumbled, crossing her arms with a pout. Monika rolled her eyes in amusement.

"Well, dumb as it may be, it certainly has you invested."

"And for hooking me and not giving me what I want, it's dumb."

"It's not dumb. It's just...slow..." Harry replied, trying to defend the movie. Bad as it was, it wasn't fair to call it mean names.

"Not to mention it ends without any satisfaction," Sayori said, gesturing at the credits. "Honestly, a romance movie without a kiss scene..."

"If it bothers you so much, then we can watch a different one that does have what you're looking for," Monika suggested, but the others yawned.

"Too late, and my ability to sit still has been exhausted," Sayori said. "Besides, we have the club tomorrow."

"Oh yeah!" Harry said, remembering something. "I just remembered something! What do we do if Natsuki and Yuri still haven't changed?"

"Same thing I've been doing for a while, act like everything's normal," Monika shrugged. "They either will or won't know the truth, and they have to figure it out like Natsuki did."

Harry frowned and tilted his head in confusion. "Miss Natsuki already figured it out? But I thought she didn't know..." Sayori frowned.

"Yeah, Monika, what do you mean?" She asked. Monika grimaced.

"Well, I've tried messing around with the game's coding a bit to see if I could find a way out...It didn't go well."

"Oh...What happened?" Sayori asked.

"I...think you're better off not knowing."

Monika's tone was a warning, and Sayori dropped the subject. They said goodnight and soon went to bed, Harry once again snuggling with Monika, wrapped in her arms with her chin resting atop his head.

"How was today?" Monika whispered, idly rubbing Harry's back.

"It was fun," Harry said. "I'm still not used to... having fun."

"I was hoping you weren't still hung up on that," Monika said, frowning slightly. "You're allowed to play games, have fun, enjoy yourself, even do nothing if it pleases you." Monika said all of this in a calm manner, doing her best to convince Harry. "Try to think of it as you sleep, some of it might stick. Goodnight, Harry."

"Goodnight, Miss Monika," Harry said, quickly drifting off.

Monika gave the boy a smile and kissed his head. "Night, Harry..." She repeated softly.


	5. Chapter 5

Monika groaned as she felt the sun in her eyes. Sitting up, still hugging Harry to her chest, she looked out the window. "Oh...It's morning already..." She mumbled.

Smiling down at the boy in her arms, she rose to her feet and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

She wondered what Harry was dreaming about as she made toast and squeezed orange juice, then heated some sausages as well. The smell woke up the two sleepy people upstairs, and they walked in with a lot of yawning.

"Good morning," Monika said, filling Harry's plate.

"Morning," Sayori grumbled, then yawned again. She thanked Monika when her plate and glass were also filled. "How'd you two sleep?"

"I slept pretty good, but it looks like I was the only one," Monika said, looking pointedly at both of them as another ywan was echoed. "Thankfully, we only have to go to the club, so you have some time to wake up."

When they finished breakfast, they went upstairs to get dressed for the club, and then were on their way.

As they walked to the school, Sayori asked if she could hold Harry for a bit.

"Well, okay" Monika said with a smile. She passed the boy over.

Harry was having fun with his piggyback ride, but didn't know what to think of the name.

"Why call it a piggyback ride?" he asked. "It seems mean to call the person carrying you a pig."

"I could see that," Sayori said, thinking. "What would you call it?" Now it was Harry's turn to think.

"A backpack ride," Harry answered. Sayori thought about the name, rolling it around her head.

"Pretty good," Sayori admitted. She got a determined look on her face, and declared in a firm voice, "By royal decree, from now on, it shall be called a backpack ride!" Harry and Monika both snickered at her antics as they arrived at the school.

They entered the building and made their way through the hallways, down to the clubroom. It was empty.

"Huh. Guess we're the first ones here." Monika observed as she turned on the lights. Sayori giggled.

"First time that's ever happened to me!" She chirped, putting Harry down on the ground carefully.

"Well, guess we might as well show each other our poems while we wait."

"Ooh, I made a good one!" Sayori replied with a grin.

"Then we should hope its as excellent as everything else you've written," Yuri said as she came in, Natsuki right behind her. "We both made poems as well."

"Great, now who would like to go first?" Monika asked. Sayori stood up and moved to where everyone could see her.

"I wake up from a nightmare sweat,

Dreamcatcher useless, a tattered, hole-filled net,

The world has stopped spinning, but I've gone forward,

I write out my weapons on paper to face the dark: my words.

Is this still a dream?

Did I ever wake up?

Where are they?

The sky is empty, where are the stars?" She finished, reaching towards the ceiling for drama. Everyone clapped at the close, impressed by her most recent work.

Even Harry, who didn't understand at all, was clapping. It had lots of big words, so it had to be good!

Sayori bashfully rubbed the back of her head. "Aww, thanks, everyone." She said with a smile. She was quite proud of this poem.

Everyone read out their poems, and then the time for constructive criticism came.

"What could Sayori improve on?" Monika asked. "You can comment too if you like, Harry."

"It seemed a little short for her," Yuri said. "Normally, your poems are close to four stanzas long."

"After the first two it looked finished to me. I blanked on anything else too, so I stopped at two," Sayori explained, and Yuri nodded.

"I have a question," Natsuki said. "From the perspective of the narrator, it seems like the world has gone wrong somehow, but what are they fighting against, this 'dark?' And how will words help defeat it?" Monika looked at Sayori in surprise. She wote about that?! Sayori blew a rasberry.

"That's cheating! You're supposed to interpret it in your own way!" Sayori complained, stamping her foot. Natsuki blushed.

"S-Sorry..." she apologized.

"And Harry, what did you want to say?" Monika asked as Harry slowly lowered his hand.

"Um...Miss Natsuki said it already..." He mumbled softly. Sayori let out a whine. "Sorry..."

"That's okay, you're new to this." Monika ruffled his hair. "I, myself, can't think of any real problems with this one. Good job, Sayori!

Harry had a sudden thought.

"Miss Monika," he said, catching her attention. "I, uh, was wondering... if i could try and write my own poem?" Monika smiled.

"Of course you can. Would you like some help?" He nodded. "Alright, we we have to finish this meeting, and then I'll help you." Harry tried to think about what he wanted to write while he waited, but it seemed that a poem like Sayori's was out of his depth. The girls wrapped things up, and Monika came over to help Harry. "So, what do you need my help with?"

"I don't know what to write about," Harry said, face bunched up. Monika giggled.

"From the beginning then. Think of something that you have a lot of feeling about. As an example, many poets use their daily lives for inspiration, or funny stories, or experience, often pain as well," Monika said, Harry listening raptly. "The poem doesn't even have to mention your topic to get a point across, it just has to express you."

"So... earlier, when miss Sayori was talking about stars and the world stopping... she wasn't?" Harry asked.

"No, that's called metaphorical speech," Monika explained. "You say something, but it expresses the ideas of another thing."

Harry scratched his head and scrunched his face up in concentration. "Um...This is hard..."

"Okay, let's start with something simple... How are you feeling right now?" Harry tilted his head.

"Hmm...I feel...happy."

"What things make you happy?" Monika asked.

"Umm... cooking, snuggling, when I played with Miss Sayori... that's it," Harry answered. Monika smiled at him.

"Now, you write about those things. You don't have to write like Sayori, just create your own style," she instructed, handing him a slip of paper and a pen.

His face took on a concentrated look, and he tentatively began to write his first poem. Monika suggested things and helped as he went, but mostly stayed back to let him work by himself and really make it his own.

Harry held the poem up to Monika. "Okay, um...How's that...? Is that...good...?" He asked timidly. Monika read it over. Then she giggled softly.

"Aww, it's adorable, Harry!" She cooed. Harry blushed and looked down.

"Oh...Thank you..."

"Do you want to show it to the others, or just hold onto it?" Monika asked. The poem was unspeakably cute, something that Natsuki would be a huge fan of.

"I... don't want them to see it," Harry said. Monika may be a fan, but he felt that it could have been better.

"Well, I'm glad I got to see it," she said, rubbing Harry's shoulder. The day was over, so they walked home with Sayori. When she asked about Harry's poem, he just blushed and said that he didn't want to show it.

Sayori pouted slightly, but relented. The first poem was always kind of embarrassing, after all.

Upon arriving home, Monika decided to go and get a few things from the store for dinner, leaving Harry with Sayori.

"Sooo...You're really sure you won't share your poem?"

"Not... really," Harry said, uncomfortable. "I want to get better before I show them." Sayori knew where he was coming from.

"You're scared they won't like your poetry?" she asked, making him look at her. Sayori nodded. "I know the feeling, so does almost everyone else there. Natsuki was happy to show hers from day one, and she's probably the only reason we ever started sharing poems. It's not about how good your poems are, it's about sharing your thoughts, your feelings."

Harry thought about what she said for a minute, and then shyly held out his first poem. Sayori smiled as she accepted it, and continued to smile as she read aloud quietly.

"I want to snuggle, I want to sleep,

I'm so happy I want to leap!

My new friends are ones I'll keep,

I'm really tired, I want to sleep."

"It's so cute!" Sayori said, squeeing at the level of adorable put into this. "Natsuki would be jealous you wrote something cuter than her stuff, this is great for a first time!"

Harry perked up slightly at her words. "R-Really?"

"Uh-huh! You've just gotta show it to Natsuki and Yuri when you get the chance!"

Sayori handed back the poem, then tilted her head in thought.

"You know, if you really like snuggling so much... you could cuddle with me while we watch something," Sayori suggested. Harry was surprised at the offer, but it was a nice thought.

"Y-Yeah, sure," he said, nodding. They picked out a movie and a blanket, and sat down on the couch together as Studio Ghibli's magic played out on screen. They both thought that this was a great idea, considering the level of comfort they felt. As the movie played they eventually laid down, heads perking over the edge of the blanket.

Harry's soft snoring told Sayori that the boy in her embrace was asleep, and she smiled as she listened to both him and the movie.

However, Sayori couldn't stay sitting down forever. She had to use the washroom desperately. Setting Harry down, she made her way upstairs to relieve herself.

She came back downstairs to find Harry...rolling around and whimpering in his sleep?

Eyes wide, she rushed over. One thing immediately became clear.

Harry was having a nightmare.

Sayori could only think to comfort him and hope that his nightmare went away, so she went back to the spot she was in before and began to smooth Harry's wild hair as she shushed him. It was apparently working; he began to relax as she tried to calm him down.

When she stopped, he unexpectedly turned around in her arms and hugged her in his sleep. It was obvious he wasn't letting go, so she got comfortable again. Sayori unconsciously rubbed his back as they held each other, thinking about Harry and the life he had before he came here.

She didn't know when she fell asleep, but she woke up the next morning with Harry still clinging to her. Monika was nowhere to be found, but Sayori could smell breakfast.

She smiled to herself before looking back over at Harry and deciding she really didn't want to move yet.

Then Harry yawned cutely and woke up, bringing a smile to the girl's face.

"Morning, sleepyhead!"

"... Good morning," he said tiredly. Sayori giggled at his state.

"You didn't sleep enough?" she asked. "When you sleep for a solid eight hours, usually you aren't tired."

"I had... nightmares," Harry said. "They got better before I woke up, but I still had them." Sayori looked at him sadly.

"I know. You were turning and mumbling last night, and I tried to get rid of your nightmare by comforting you," she explained, unknowingly running her fingers through Harry's hair.

Harry gave her a small smile. "Th-Thank you..." He said softly. Sayori giggled and sat up, still holding him.

"Aww, no problem. What nightmares were you having, anyway?"

Harry looked down and began to shake slightly.

"It was...my kitty..."

Oh, the memories. Like a twisted game of tag, one memory after another was brought up for Harry to remember while he slept. The one Harry was talking about, however, was a rather nasty one.

Spring had finished melting away the winter two weeks ago, and Harry was working in the garden, pulling up young weeds before they managed to ruin the garden. He heard something in the alleyway, a scrabbling noise, and since he hadn't been forbidden to use the gate, he went to see what it was.

A small black cat, barely old enough to be away from its mother, was struggling to walk through the mud in the middle of the road. Harry went over to it and pulled it from the cold muck, cradling it against his chest.

"... H-Hi there..." Harry whispered. The mess he was getting on himself thanks to the mud was indistinguishable from what was already there.

The kitty let out a soft mewl and nuzzled in closer to the boy's chest, bringing a smile to his face. That smile only grew bigger when the kitten began to purr.

"Hey freak!" Harry panicked and hid the cat behind his back, looking to see Dudley sneering at him. "Daddy says to get dinner ready!"

Harry nodded and watched his cousin go inside before carefully putting the cat back down. "Bye kitty." He said softly before going inside.

When he came back out the next day, the cat was there, waiting for him.

He'd snuck extra scraps from dinner last night, and fed some to his new feline friend. He smiled as the cat ate from his hand, then moved to rub against his side with even more purring then last night.

Harry faintly heard a car come up the driveway on the other side of the house, and wondered who had come to visit (he hadn't heard anybody leave). The loud greetings of his aunt Marge and the Dursleys answered that question.

Harry had been told by Vernon to stay out of sight when anyone came by, but since he doubted Marge had any reason to enter the alleyway, he just made sure he wouldn't attract attention before he went back to scratching the cat.

At first, everything was going amazingly. He felt happy and at ease with the small cat. He liked the way it purred and nuzzled into his hand.

However, everything went horribly wrong when Aunt Marge let her dog out for a pee.

Harry stiffened when he heard the aggressive growl.

The gate was closed at the moment, but that would change as soon as someone came to see what the dog was looking for. Harry tried to shoo the cat away, really he did, but it just stayed a few feet away from him. The back door opened, and he doubled his efforts to get the cat to safety.

"What's out there?" Vernon asked the dog. Harry's heart was hammering in his chest. Out of everyone who could have checked, why him?! The gate clicked open. "Go get it."

Like a shot, Marge's dog went on a rampage, barreling towards the cat Harry had called friend. Too late, the cat knew what the boy had been trying to do, and took off as fast as her legs could carry her, running for the fence on the opposite side of the alley. The dog got there first, nipping at her legs.

"NO!" Harry cried, jumping towards the brawl to save his friend. Vernon caught his arm, and all he could do was watch as the cat was bitten savagely. When it had gone still, the dog wagged its tail as it waddled back to a smiling Vernon and broken Harry.

Vernon ignored his nephew's broken state and patted the dog's head with a smile. "There's a good boy, showing those ruddy cats who's boss." The man said as he allowed the dog back in.

Harry didn't cry. He wasn't allowed to no matter how much he wanted it. But he did cry later that night when he overheard his 'family' talking from his cupboard.

"Serves the overgrown rat right if you ask me. Bloody cats, always turning their little noses up... Can't stand the damned arrogant things, honestly..." His uncle was complaining. Marge laughed.

"Ripper didn't get his nis name for nothing, you know! Not a single cat's come across him and lived!" Harry covered his ears, not wanting to hear anymore.

"...I...I don't like doggies... They're loud and stinky and scary and mean and they killed my kitty..." Harry said, concluding his story.

Sayori stayed quiet, continuing to cuddle Harry in order to comfort both herself and him. The now comfortable quiet stretched as the room slowly became brighter, the two occupants of the couch not bothering to focus on the passage of time, content to let the whole day slip by if it so wanted.

It wasn't meant to be. Monika yawned and stretched as she walked downstairs, passing the livingroom with a quiet "morning" as she made her way to the kitchen. Soon the sound and smell of cooking filled the house.

Harry wanted to help, but he wanted to snuggle Sayori more, and so, for the first time since he'd arrived, Harry didn't help cook a meal.

Monika, meanwhile, was thinking hard to herself about getting a little gift for Harry... There was one non-human creature in this game...

In Natsuki's route, she and the MC adoptted a small black kitten.

And Monika believed that a pet would do Harry some good.

After breakfast was finished, Monika pulled Natsuki aside and suggested her idea.

"There's a black cat in this game, I'm thinking of bringing it home and letting Harry have a pet. What do you think?" she asked her. Sayori didn't have to think about it for long.

"Heck yes! He loves cats... I've got a concern though. I don't want to dredge up more memories because we did something nice," she replied, worried for Harry.

"Why? What happened?" Monika asked. Sayori told her about Harry's nightmares, and repeated the story of the kitten he found, later watching it be killed by his aunt's dog. Monika shook with anger. "Is there no end to their atrocities?! We're definitely finding the cat, Harry deserves to have a pet."

Sayori nodded and held her clenched fists up to her face with a determined look. "Right! But where would we find it?" Monika smirked.

"Well, it pays to know how the game works." After searching the city through the debug menu, Monika discovered that the cat was still sitting in it's little alleyway.

The two girls went to collect the kitty, but were surprised when they got there.

Natsuki was there, feeding the kitty.

"Natsuki?" Monika asked, startling the pink-haired tsundere. "What are you doing here?"

"Wha- I- uhh..." Natsuki stuttered, then realized something. "Wait, what are YOU TWO doing here?!"

"We were going for a walk, and saw the kitten walk in here," Sayori explained. "I guess you have the same reason, huh?" Natsuki nodded, blushing cheeks puffed with annoyance.

"I guess... I guess I just thought to help it. I didn't see her mom anywhere," she said, scratching the kitten's head.

"I could take her, Harry loves cats," Monika said. Natsuki looked at the ground, somewhat crestfallen.

"Yeah, I don't know much about cats anyways, and my dad..." she trailed off. The cat was gently handed to Monika. "Here."

Monika smiled as she took the small cat from the pinkette's arms. It let out a soft mewl and squirmed a bit, but calmed down when she gave it a scratch under the chin.

"Aww, so cute..." Sayori cooed, petting the kitten's head.

"Yeah..." Monika couldn't help but notice the sadness in Natsuki's voice.

"Have you been taking care of him long then?" She asked. Natsuki shrugged.

"A couple months...Would have brought him home, but dad's allergic... He's a cynical jerk and all, but I don't want to make him suffer anything." Monika smiled.

"You're welcome to come see the cat any time." She assured the smaller girl.

"Thanks," Natsuki said, perking up. "It's comforting to know that I can still see him when I want." Monika and Sayori left with the kitten, while Natsuki returned home, happy that the feline would be in a proper home now.

Monika and Sayori stepped into the house with the small cat. "Hey Monika?" Monika tilted her head.

"Yeah?"

"How come Natsuki always looks so...sad and angry when she has to go home?"

Monika turned a little sad. "It's because of her father. He's a good man... he just can't connect with her. He tries to get her to stay home, often forgets to give her food, and doesn't give her money to buy her own. It's why she's so small and sometimes collapses: she's been malnourished for a long time, same as Harry." Monika just got less happy as she continued. "He doesn't sound good, but he doesn't exactly take care of himself either after Natsuki's mom died... the jokes he used to tell are all sarcasm and spite now, and Natsuki has to remind him to take care of the basics."

"Geez... I wish I could help them," Sayori said, now as sad as Monika. Luckily, Harry came to the rescue. He emerged from the livingroom, carrying a book he'd been reading.

"Hi Miss Monika, Miss Sayori, what did you-" Harry was about to ask, but cut himself off at the sight of the kitten. Excitement and bad memories jostled for dominance in his head, and he was left stunned.

The girls gave him a small smile. "Oh, we were just out on a walk, and we found this little guy just hanging out in an alley." Sayori explained. "We couldn't find his mommy, so we brought him home."

Harry stared at the kitten, not sure how he should react. Monika approached and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Do you want to hold him, Harry?"

"Y-Yeah..." Harry said reluctantly, unsure if he wanted to hold out his hands or keep them at his sides despite his words. He looked up at Monika, and she knew what he was afraid of.

"It's okay, there's no dogs here," she reassured him. "He'll be safe here." Harry finally decided, and opened his arms. Monika handed him the kitten, and he cuddled him like his life depended on it. The sight was as cute as it was sad.

She watched the boy hold the kitten for several minutes before speaking up. "Why don't you give him a name?" She offered. Harry perked up, then started thinking.

"Um...Inky... Because he's all black, like ink." He said with a nod and a satisfied smile.

Irony of the cat being named after a videogame character aside, Inky was instantly a part of the house, exploring and stealing affection from everyone like he'd been there for years. Harry loved him, and immediately brightened anytime he entered a room. Since Monika had never owned a cat before, she had to go gather a few things so that Inky could stay, much to her discomfort.

"It's becoming a bad habit where I leave you two alone all day while I go out," she said, giving Harry and Sayori a quick hug before she left. "I don't know if there's even a petstore around here, but we can improvise if there isn't."

With that, she left to get some pet supplies. Sayori gave Inky his tuna, and began construction of a pillow pit in the middle of the floor with Harry's help.

This time, they actually managed to get it to stay up. Until Inky began to play around the pillow fort, bumping himself into it and causing it to fall over.

"Awwww, Inkyyyyy!" Sayori whined with a pout. Inky just let out a mewl before licking his paw. Harry giggled.

"Your cat's a troublemaker. You may have Harry fooled, but I'm onto you." Her threats and suspiscious squint made Harry giggle even more, while Inky just lounged in the mess he'd made.

They made another fort (reinfored a bit so Inky couldn't demolish it so easily) and played a few games among the cushy fortifications, acting out a few dramatic rescues and short-lived battles.

"You did it! You saved the 9th dimension from the giant monkey men!" Sayori cheered as she held Harry up and twirled him around.

"Yay! We did it!" Harry cheered, proud of his imaginary feat.

Inky chose this moment to be a part of the fun, leaping onto Harry's shoulder with perfect grace and balancing himself as he yowled in victory. The fact that he wasn't part of the battle was ignored for the moment.

"Should Inky be king? He certainly seems ready for the throne," Sayori grinned, setting Harry down so that Inky would have an easier time sitting on Harry.

"He'll be prince, I don't think it would be a good idea now," Harry said, scratching the cat's ears. "He also listens to anyone that rubs his ears." Sayori laughed at this claim being proven right in front of her. Inky was purring and rubbing his face against Harry's even after the whole "not ready for the throne" bit.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Sayori tilted her head, wondering who it was. Not like Monika would knock to get in her own house...

"I'm gonna go get that, okay, Harry?" Sayori patted the boy's head and skipped off to answer the door. She opened it to find Natsuki standing there, shyly clutching at her arm.

"Um...Hi..." She mumbled. "Um...My dad kicked me out...Said he wanted me to go do something...not manga related, so I thought I'd...y'know...come say hi..."

"Oh... come in, come in," Sayori said, ushering her friend inside. "What happened?"

"I guess he just... got tired of me sitting in my room, and knowing that I would be reading manga, used that to, uh, kick me out," Natsuki said. She sat down heavily on the couch. "I didn't think it would come to this, if I'm being honest."

"Nobody would. I'll go make some tea for you." Sayori headed for the kitchen, and Natsuki was left with Harry and Inky.

Natsuki turned to the boy and gave a smile. "Hey there, Harry." She greeted. Harry smiled.

"Hi, Miss Natsuki. Sorry your daddy kicked you out of your house. That's a mean thing to do..." Natsuki shrugged.

"Yeah, my dad's a bit of a meanie sometimes." She agreed.

"Do you wanna play with me and Inky?" he asked, presenting the cat in question for emphasis. "He likes to play pretend, and is really good at being a dragon." Natsuki smiled.

"Yeah, I'll play. What are we going to do?" Harry thought for a moment, when Inky decided to jump and balance on his head. Harry smiled.

"You're a princess, taken by Inky the Terrible to a mountaintop. I swear, I will recue you!" He proclaimed, making Natsuki giggle as she picked up Inky and sat on the back of the couch.

Most of the adventure was Harry trying to get up the trapped and maze-filled mountain, dodging pillow boulders and fighting off the side table (with potted plant minions no less). Finally, Natsuki's night in shining armor had reached the summit.

"Inky, I have come for your head and Miss Natsuki!" Inky licked his lips and yawned in response, but Harry held his nose and waved his hand in front of his face. "Poison breath! Foul serpent, I'll end you!" Apparently, as Natsuki would later learn, he'd learned all of this banter from TV plays. With his firepoker sword in hand, Harry dueled the beast magnificently.

Inky was now rolling around on the floor with the fire poker in his little paws, batting at it and giving it excited little nods.

"Aw yeah, I'm saved! The monster is distracted!" Natsuki cheered. Harry giggled.

"Yay, I win!"

"Heh...So, Inky, huh? That's sure a cute name."

"Yeah...He's inky black, so he's inky."

"Makes sense, and it's original at least," Natsuki said. "What other games should we play?" Sayori returned at that moment with the tea, glancing at the chaos that was the livingroom on her way towards Natsuki.

"I made some for everyone, Inky excepted," she said, setting a tray full of both beverage and china on the coffee table. "I know Natsuki likes three sugars in her tea, how many for you, Harry?" Growing up serving tea but never drinking it, Harry was left wanting an answer

"Uh... I don't know?" he said. "Two?" When asked about milk, again he floundered. "S-Sure?"

Sayori giggled and poured some milk into Harry's tea. "Careful, it's hot." She warned. Harry blew on it, took a sip and tried to hide his grimace.

"This is my favourite thing." Sayori giggled.

"Aww, it's not for everyone, Harry."

He blushed as he replaced the cup and saucer on the tray, thoroughly embarassed by what just happened.

"I-I didn't want to be rude," Harry stammered, twisting his shirt in his hands. Sayori pat him on the shoulder while smiling.

"Harry, if you of all people can ever be thought of as rude, it's a sure sign that the world is about to end. I don't think you have a rude bone in your body," she said, making Harry confused and alarmed about the world ending bit, but relieved when Sayori confirmed that he wasn't rude.

Natsuki watched the interaction with a small smile."I have to say, I'm surprised to see you here, Sayori. You come to hang with Monika a lot?" Sayori giggled.

"Oh, you could say that." Natsuki nodded.

"I see. So uh, Inky's settling in nicely."

"It's because he's spoiled rotten," Sayori said, rolling her eyes and turning towards the cat in question. "Look at him, laying about like he owns the place." Harry scratched behind Inky's ears, making him purr. "You see? Spoiled."

"Oh no," Natsuki giggled. "How should we fix this?"

Sayori narrowed her eyes in thought... "Ooh! Let's dress him up!" Inky let out a confused, slightly scared meow.

"Um...Kitties don't wear clothes though..." Said a very confused Harry.

"They can, and it's really cute when they do!" Natsuki explained. "Depending on what we make them out of, they'll also be comfy."

"I think we should make a sweater, cream and brown," Sayori said, thinking out loud. "I wonder how quick I can put it together?"

"Don't forget me," Natsuki said.

Inky was still clueless about his fate, up until the point when he was put into a knit sweater. He didn't care how it looked, it was so soft and warm that he was ready to fall asleep in it. The two girls that had sentenced him to death by comfort cooed at the sight of him sleepily wobbling his way to a pillow.

The kitten let out a soft mewl and curled up on the pillow, purring softly. "I love him!" Natsuki gushed, holding a clenched fist over her heart.

"Aww, me too!" Sayori cooed.

"I'm stealing him." Natsuki joked, looking at Harry, who gasped and gave her the puppy eyes.

"No, don't steal Inky..." He pleaded softly, causing Natsuki to giggle.

"Don't worry. I'll steal you too, so you won't miss him."

"But then Miss Monika will miss me... she'll be sad..." Harry said, turning his eyes towards the ground. Natsuki hugged him.

"I won't steal anybody, I promise. I couldn't bear to make anybody sad on purpose," she comforted him, snuggling him to herself among the pillows neighboring the cat. The sound of a camera shutter and a quick flash made Natsuki look up to see Sayori holding her phone while wearing a broad smile.

"Too cute to not photograph," she explained. "Cute stuff may be your forte, but this just went beyond that."

"I get it, but I demand a copy," Natsuki said firmly.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and Monika stepped in, carrying a large plastic bag. "Well, they certainly had a wide selection-Oh, hi, Natsuki. Wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Yeah... No trouble, right?"

"No, it's fine, you can come by anytime!" Monika replied chipperly. Natsuki gave a grin.

"Heh...Thanks...It'd make my dad happy if I came to hang out more..."

"Is he part of the reason you're here now?," Monika asked, setting her shopping down for a moment. Natsuki sighed softly.

"Kinda... he kicked me out of the house for reading manga, I just wandered this way," she explained, her mood soured. Monika hugged her close.

"I'm sorry about that," she said, looking at her friend. "If you'd like to stay for dinner, I'll be making dumplings and soup." Natsuki smiled and nodded.

"Sounds awesome. Count me in." Her stomach growled, as if to agree with her. Monika giggled.

"I'll be sure to give you a little extra." She said with a wink, causing Natsuki to blush.

"I...I'm not a charity case...But thank you though."


	6. Chapter 6

Natsuki came over a lot more frequently after that night. Everytime she did, and to her embarassment, there was always a plate ready for her at the table. Harry and Inky were great fun to play with, and she introduced the young boy to the wonders of manga a week or so into her visits.

"So here's how you read it," she said, pointing to the page. "You start at the top right and move left, then down the page. Then you go to the left page and do the same, and you go left through the whole thing."

"Why read it like that?" Harry asked. "It's like a wrong book." Natsuki giggled at his interpretation.

"It's just how you read it. There are a few rare ones made like American comics, but for the most part they're printed like this." She handed him one of her favorite slice-of-life mangas, and together they silently read through the pages.

Luckily, even if he hadn't been in school very long, Harry still knew how to read (sure, it was labels on cans and newspapers, but it was still reading).

However, he still found himself needing to frequently ask for help with the bigger words. Natsuki didn't mind, though. It was fun to explain her mangas to him.

As Natsuki read to Harry, Monika and Sayori were talking. "So...You think this is a good idea...?" Sayori asked nervously.

"I think it'll be fine. Natsuki's dad won't hurt Harry, that I know. I think Natsuki and her dad would benefit from meeting him."

"I guess...But what excuse are we gonna use to get him to Natsuki's house?"

"Easy. We're both doing something important with our parents and need him to go somewhere else for a couple days."

Sayori sighed. "And I was having fun with him."

"He's not leaving forever, Sayori," Monika said, "he's just going to have a sleepover for a few days." She nodded with a slight pout, and they went into the livingroom to propose the idea. "Harry, what would you think about going over to Natsuki's house for a while?"

Harry was put on edge by that suggestion, and he stiffened up. That sounded like she was trying to get rid of him. "Sounds... okay," he said hesitantly. "When can I come back?"

"If you don't want to stay over there, you can come right home," Monika said, kneeling to his level and placing her hands on his shoulders. "I just think that it would be a good idea for you to get out of this house for a while, seeing as you've hardly left it since you got here. I'm not kicking you out, if that's your concern."

Monika looked at Natsuki. "Is it okay with you, Natsuki?" The pinkette looked unsure.

"I mean, I'd love to have him over, but my dad...Huh...Actually, my dad might be okay with this." She looked at Harry. "So, uh...You down for it?" Harry nodded his head shyly. He liked Miss Natsuki. She was nice. And if he was allowed to go home afterwards...

"All right! It's settled then!" Monika clapped her hands together. "Harry, you can decide the day. Whenever you're ready."

"Um...Just...Maybe a couple days from now...?"

"Alright, it's settled then," Monika smiled. She turned to Natsuki. "You'd better tell your father to expect company." The plan was set, and Monika's plan was one step closer to its end.

Harry and Natsuki were none the wiser in their game, this time as explorers of ancient ruins in old, vast forests, full of deep shadows and curious beasts.

"I think we should sleep here," Harry declared, foot planted firmly on a log in a clearing (stack of books beside the TV). "There aren't any Clatter Flies in the trees, and the ground is dry."

Mpnika and Sayori smiled at the two. "All right, Sayori, what do you say we go make dinner now?" Sayori perked up.

"Ooh, yes! I'm starving!" She said eagerly.

Monika heated up some eggrolls, while Sayori made sushi, and on the side was orange chicken. Soon it smelled so good that it broke Harry's concentration, making him and Natsuki walk in, following their noses.

"That smells great!" Harry said, sitting at the table. He knew that it wouldn't be long now. Natsuki stumbled a bit on her way to the table, and Harry gave her a concerned look. Sayori and Monika were also worried. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she waived off. "It's just that my legs have been hurting the last few days, along with everything else."

"Hey, Natsuki, stand up real quick," Monika asked. She looked at the pinkette for a moment when she did, and then became surprised. "You're growing!"

"What?" Natsuki looked at herself. "Why would I be growing?"

"You've been stunted for a long time because you don't eat much," Sayori said. "Now that you've been getting regular meals over here, your body kind of... woke up."

Natsuki looked herself over and let out a small laugh. "Wow...I am growing...! Yes!" She cheered, pumping her fist in delight.

"Yeah! You're almost close to being as tall as me!" Sayori cheered. Natsuki huffed.

"I have some way to go...Wonder how tall I'm gonna get?"

"Well, only time will tell." Monika shrugged. "Until then, we should eat this before it gets cold." They gladly tucked in to the meal.

"I love the chicken," Harry said, taking another bite of the sauced dish. "It's so sweet!"

"I'm glad you like it," Sayori said with a smile. "I made the sauce myself from an online recipe. Have you tried the sushi?"

"Yeah..." Harry said, trailing off. "It wasn't my favorite... sorry."

Monika frowned. "Huh. Really? Let me try-UGH!" She gagged almost the second the sushi was in her mouth. "Oh wow did I ever mess this up! Geez...Uh... Good job not puking, Harry." She said, smiling sheepishly. Harry still felt bad.

"Sorry...I don't feel right saying bad stuff about the food you make..." Monika shrugged.

"You live here. I make something you don't like, it's only fair you tell me so you don't have to worry about it being made again."

"Oh...Okay...But...I'll pretend to like it at other people's houses, is that okay?"

Monika couldn't stop the laughs that burst out, but they snuck up on her, so it wasn't entirely fair. She caught her breath after a moment, but continued to giggle.

"Yes, that's perfectly fine," she smiled. "But that doesn't mean you have to eat anything you have on your plate."

Sayori and Natsuki were also a part of the fun, but were quieter in their own outbursts.

Harry blushed and looked down at his plate. Suddenly, Inky jumped up and ate a piece of his sushi. "Inky, no, that's not good." Harry scolded lightly before putting the protesting kitten on the floor.

"It should be safe for him to eat sushi, shouldn't it?" Sayori asked.

"Yeah, Inky can have it if you don't want it. Kitties love to eat fish." Monika explained.

"Oh, okay," Harry said, hesitant but still placing the plate of sushi on the floor for Inky. The kitten gobbled the food up, apparently loving the food even when the others didn't.

"Even your bad cooking can't keep him away from fish," Sayori said, playfully getting under Monika's skin.

Monika tried to fling a piece of chicken in Sayori's face, but she snapped it up in her mouth before it even came close to hitting her. "What kind of example is THAT setting for Hary?" Sayori asked with a pout. Monika rolled her eyes.

"He's too pure to even think of doing that." Harry didn't know about the pure part, but he certainly had no intention of throwing food. It was wasteful.

A few days later, Harry was packed up and on his way over to Natsuki's home. Both him and the pink haired girl next to him were a little nervous.

"He means well, it just doesn't seem like it," Natsuki said, trying to prep her friend to meet her dad. "Just assume the best of things."

"I-I'll try," Harry said. They arrived at the front door and went in.

"Dad, I'm home!" Natsuki called out. "I brought my friend over, come and meet him!" There was movement in one of the ground rooms, and then her father appeared.

He was two heads taller than Natsuki, and twice as tall as Harry. He had a beer gut, but everywhere else looked like it was carved out of rock. His hair was dark, short, and beginning to recede, even though he didn't have lines in his face yet.

"Nice to meet you," he said, extrnding a hand that was as rough as his voice. "I'm Natsuki's father. You can call me Akishimo."

Harry nervously took the man's hand. "H-Hi, Mr. Ak...Aka...Ake..."

"Okay, let's just call me Aki then." The man replied with a shrug. "I gotta say, I'm glad you're here. S'nice that my daughter's taking responsibility for someone else."

Natsuki bit her tongue, not wanting to start an argument in front of Harry.

"I'm h-happy to be here," Harry said, trying to smile. Aki picked up Harry's bag for him, and led him to the guest room, pointing out places in the house as he went.

"Livingroom right there, kitchen in the back, study over there," he said, then walked upstairs. "Guestroom, Nat's room, my room, bathroom." He set down Harry's things at the foot of the bed in the small but well-kept room, and then left Natsuki and Harry in favor of his own room.

Harry let out a breath. "He's kinda... scary."

"He's just a big guy," Natsuki said, "but I know what you mean."

She sighed softly and picked Harry up with a small smile. "C'mon, I'll show you my room." She said, carrying him into her bedroom.

Harry looked around curiously at Natsuki's room. It was very pink, and it had a lot of posters on it. Mostly depicting anime characters, though there were a couple band ones as well. And there was no shortage of plush toys and little figures on the shelf. Natsuki had made good use of her saved up allowances.

"Cool room," Harry said. "It's real... pink." Natsuki giggled.

"Thanks, Harry. If you don't feel okay being alone, you're welcome to sleep in here," she said, rubbing his shoulder. "I don't want you to be scared here, alright?"

"Alright," Harry said with enthusiasm.

Natsuki gave him a small grin. "Heh...I'll take your enthusiasm as a yes. So uh...I guess we should figure out what to do for dinner."

"Oh...Miss Monika gave me food to share with you and your daddy." Harry replied, opening his backpack.

"Whoah..." Natsuki said. There was practically a minifridge in Harry's backpack, Tupperware, icepacks, and drinks filled the entire thing to the brim. "I guess that answers what was making the noise."

"Miss Monika knew your dad didn't really cook, so she cooked for us," Harry said.

Natsuki chuckled. 'Boy, Monika sure is a mom.' She thought to herself. "Well, that's awesome of her. Now we don't have to worry about going hungry at all. Though...I feel like I should learn to cook..." Harry tilted his head.

"But you make cupcakes. That's cooking, right?"

"Nah, that's baking. There's a distinction."

harry didn't know that there was a distinction, but he didn't ask any more about it. They went downstairs to watch TV for a while, but a thought occured to Harry.

"What if I get nightmares?" he asked Natsuki. "I have them a lot, and without Miss Monika I might wake up your dad and get him mad." Natsuki could understand his reasoning, but had a solution.

"Simple: you'll sleep next to me. You won't have any nightmares then, right?" Harry was surprised that she would offer that, and so was Aki. He didn't know the situation, so continued to listen from the kitchen.

"Y-Yeah, I guess, but only Miss Monika ever does that," Harry said. "Wouldn't she be upset?"

"What for? If anything, she'd want me to help you," Natsuki reasoned.

Harry nodded his head slowly. "Y-Yeah...I guess she would..." He said with a small smile.

"Of course she would. Monika cares about you. Heck, we all do. So just...try not to worry too much about what other peope think, got it?" Harry nodded.

"Got it." He agreed.

Aki remained quiet, mulling over what he'd just heard. Harry, a really nice kid it seemed, had a lot of nightmares. His daughter, Monika, and others were taking care of him, and so far as he could tell the kid slept with them so his nightmares would go away. He'd try to ask Harry about that later, only a really awful circumstance could give somebody nightmares like that.

For the moment, he finished putting a new bag in the trash can, and went into his study to read. The soft click of the door went unnoticed by Harry and Natsuki.

Natsuki was telling Harry about her home now. "...And my dad's a police officer, though he doesn't interact with his co-workers much. Mostly just waits for someone to give him orders. But...no one's called him lately...Pretty weird, huh? In fact, besides you, my dad, the girls and Inky, I don't see much of anyone anymore..."

Harry began to feel stressed out. He couldn't explain something so major... "Um... Maybe you should ask Miss Monika about it... She's smart..."

"Yeah, I think I will," Natsuki said, yawning. Her own tiredness stopped her from noticing Harry's neevous tone. "Let's get ready for bed, it's getting late." They went upstairs to brush their teeth, and took turns in the shower before they put on pajamas and walked to Natsuki's room.

"Goodnight, Miss Natsuki," Harry mumbled, barely awake. He was unused to cuddling with anyone but Monika, but that wasn't to say that it was uncomfortable. More to the point, he was already asleep in Natsuki's arms.

"Goodnight, Harry," Natsuki murmured back, equally tired.

She went to sleep immediately afterwards, snoring softly.

Downstairs, Aki silently ate the food Harry brought for him. He'd have to ask the boy to thank this Monika girl. It had been some time since he'd had a meal like this.

In the morning, Natsuki heated up some breakfast for herself and the two guys sleeping upstairs. The smell roused Aki first, Harry following behind him. They found Natsuki at the stove and a half-set table waiting in the kitchen.

"Good morning, Miss Natsuki," Harry said. Aki said his own good morning, though it was more of a loud mumble.

"Morning guys," Natsuki greeted, smiling. "I have sausage going right now, but the waffles are on the table. Go ahead and sit down."

Harry and Aki took their seats at the table, neither one really eager to talk at the moment, Aki due to being tired, Harry due to being shy.

The food was all ready within minutes, and Natsuki set it down. "Wish I knew how to cook like this...Maybe Monika can give me some lessons..." She mumbled.

"Thank you for making breakfast, Miss Natsuki," Harry said, both he and the pinkette smiling. Aki wondered why he insisted on adding 'miss' to her name.

"Thank Monika, I just heated it up," Natsuki said, deflecting the compliment. They began to eat in earnest then, and no words were said. The food was delicious, and Natsuki once again reminded herself to learn how to cook like this.

Aki finished his food first, and excused himself without saying anything. Natsuki rolled her eyes at his retreating form. "Would it kill him to have an actual conversation?" She grumblled.

"He's really quiet...He must be thinking about lots of things." Harry replied.

When Harry and Natsuki were done, they decided to play hide and seek for a while. The wizard was first to hide, so Natsuki stayed in the livingroom while he searched for a spot.

Meanwhile, Harry had just found a space behind the couch, and backed into the crawlspace until he was hidden.

He was silently giggling to himself, and when Natsuki came into the room, he forced himself silent, waiting for her to either leave or find him.

Unfortunately for him, she had heard his giggling beforehand.

"Gotcha!" Natsuki suddenly yelled, popping her head into Harry's line of sight. Harry jumped, or at least he would have if he weren't in such a tight spot, and gave a yelp at the noise. Halfway through her laughing fit he managed to calm his racing heart and clamber from his hiding place.

"My turn to count! One! Two! Three! Four..." Harry said, grinning as he covered his eyes and immediately started counting. Natsuki's laughter was cut short, and she scrambled to find a hiding spot before he finished. Harry fortunately couldn't hear the choice words she muttered under her breath as she quickly walked around for her turn at being hunted.

Aki didn't bother to look up from the book he was reading, but he noted that the two were playing downstairs. 'I wonder how many games they'll play?' he asked himself.

Sighing and shaking his head, he went back to his book. It was one of his late wife's favourites, To Kill a Mockingbird. Oh how he wished this was what his daughter was into...But she didn't like it because it 'bored' her. How disespectful...

All she wanted to read were those damned glorified comic books. What was so great about manga anyway? Just a bunch of overly cheery nonsense, as far as he was concerned...

When the duo got tired of playing hide and seek, Natsuki showed Harry her secret manga stash.

"I keep my favorite manga hidden here," she explained, holding the medium box with near reverence. "Inside, are the most fantastic and emotional manga I've ever read. I'm entrusting their secret with you."

Harry may be only five, but he'd seen enough Shakespeare and manga to recognize drama. With that in mind, he bowed his head and slowly lifted the lid from the cardboard box. "It is an hon-... an hon...er?" Natsuki giggled.

"Close enough. Enough talk, there's manga to be read!" She handed him a comic at random, and re-hid the rest of them after selecting one for herself.

The two spent hours reading and enjoying their manga, Harry frequently asking for help with the big words, when the one thing Natsuki dreaded most happened.

Her dad walked in.

Aki saw what his daughter was reading and rolled his eyes. "Really, Natsuki? Again with the damn manga?"

Natsuki almost growled in frustration. She was sick of him judging her choice of reading without ever having read a single page of a manga himself. Harry shrunk on instinct, trying to avoid the verbal crossfire he could feel brewing.

"Yes, dad! I AM reading manga again!" Natsuki shouted. "And I'm tired of having to hide my manga from you because you don't like it!"

"Natsuki," her father said, voice dangerously low. Harry's whimper went unnoticed. "Those damn comics are entirely pointless. Why read them when there are hundreds of other things to do?"

"Because it's what I want to do! It's MY CHOICE!" she screamed, trying to hammer home the message. "You want to read books or sleep, and I want to read manga!"

"It's for children! It is a child's hobby! What could you possibly be getting out of reading those things?!"

"How would you know?! You've never even read one!"

"I don't need to read your damned comic books!"

"They're NOT comic books! They're MANGA! And at least I'm trying to move on after-

"Don't. You dare. Say it." Aki growled.

After coming this far, Natsuki wouldn't be stopped by that tone, as she had so many other times in this argument. One too many times they'd yelled in just such a way, and now she would step over this last line in the sand. She gathered breath, and said it.

"AFTER MOM DIED!" Natsuki screamed at him. Silence. Aki's face was red like a pice of metal in a fire, on the verge of exploding with anger. Not so much as a dust mote moved for a whole three seconds.

A muffled sniffle made the two turn suddenly towards Harry, and the attention made him dart from the room as though his life depended on it. They firgot he was even there.

"Harry, wait!" Natsuki called, running after him, ignoring her father for the moment. He was about to follow her out, but his eyes happened to glance at one of the open mangas on the floor, and he stooped to pick it up.

He scoffed at the open page, and he was about to throw it to the ground, but something stopped him.

One of the text bubbles had something written inside it that stopped him dead in his tracks.

It said 'How am I supposed to keep this family going without her?!', said by a middle aged man, in tears.

Aki wanted so much to drop the book...But something compelled him to keep reading, from the very start...He felt a need to know this man's story...

Natsuki managed to catch up to Harry in the meantime, and tried to stop him as gently as she could.

"Harry, please stop," she said. She caught one of his arms and pulled him into a hug. "Why did you run?"

"I-I-I g-got so s-scared and M-Mr. Aki w-was so a-a-angry a-and y-you were b-both s-shouting," Harry babbled through hiccuping tears, stutter worse than it had been in weeks. Natsuki held him to her chest and rocked him, trying to calm him down. Slowly he became at ease.

"I'm sorry, Harry," she apologized. "We started a shouting match right in front of you without even realizing it. You thought back to the Dursleys, didn't you?" He nodded his head against her shoulder, and she gave him a weak squeeze with her arms. "I'm sorry that you had to see that."

Harry just sniffled in response. Natsuki, seeing her father hadn't followed, decided to carry the boy up to her room, where it was quiet and safe, making sure to lock the door behind her.

Sighing deeply, she took a seat on the bed and looked over at Harry. "So uh...Still crying, huh?"

"M'sorry...I...Can't stop..." The boy said between sobs.

"That's okay, that's okay, keep it up if you really need to."

Aki was busy reading the manga from Natsuki's room. The father was in a remarkably similar situation to his own; wife gone, and an estranged daughter that he was trying to reconnect with. They argued, gave each other the cold shoulder, and never talked. The argument he'd stumbled into the middle of earlier was one of many.

It was striking, and at the same time painful. He quickly reached the end of the manga, and left his reading chair to find his daughter. A third person view had put things in perspective, and he intended to put things right.

Back in Natsuki's room, Harry had stopped crying for the time being. And now, he was opening up to Natsuki about a tidbit of his old life...

His endless chores, and the unfair punishments should he fail to complete them.

Aki was about to knock on his daughter's door, but stopped when he heard the conversation inside.

"... get to eat, I was just given table scraps every week," Harry explained, tone shaky. "I was hit for a lot of things, but the worst was Uncle Vernon's belt... he left a lot of marks on me." a muffled sob escaped him, as though barely making it past a small pair of hands. "He made me look ugly."

"Harry, despite what he did to you, you're not ugly for your scars," Natsuki said, in the saddest tone he'd ever heard from her. "I can prove it to you as well."

"How?' he sniffled, wiping his eyes.

"Well, as of now, I find you adorable, handsome, and so brave that I admire you. If I see your scars, and that doesn't change, then they can't be ugly, can they?" Harry didn't answer, but after a moment there was a soft rustling of cloth. Aki peeked in, and his jaw dropped: Harry's back and arms were covered scars, burns, cuts, and even small craters in his skin coated him all over. Natsuki looked at him while he covered his arms in shame, and drew him into a hug. "You're not ugly Harry, you never were."

Aki narrowed his eyes at what he was hearing. So these bastards starved and beat that tiny kid for not doing chores right? All he could do now was hope that they were in jail...

But then...Was he really much better?

Shaking his head, Aki decided to leave them for the time being. He would talk to Natsuki tomorrow...

"Don't feel ashamed of what happened, Harry," Natsuki comforted him. "They were the ones in the wrong, not you, okay?"

"... O-Okay," Harry said, hugging her in return. He yawned, and Natsuki realized how late it had gotten when she looked outside.

"Let's get ready for bed, it's late," she suggested, handing Harry his shirt and heading for the bathroom to brush her teeth. She also helped Harry when he couldn't quite get the last bit of toothpaste out, and soon they were snuggled together in bed.

Natsuki looked down at Harry with a small grin. "So, you go back home tomorrow. You happy for that?" Harry nodded his head slowly.

"You're really nice and I like you, but...I miss Miss Monika." He admitted.

"Yeah, I get that... I'd be a little homesick too in your situation." Natsuki agreed.

Much to Harry's relief, that night he was once again nightmare-free


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning Harry woke up before Natsuki, and made sure she was still asleep when he got out of her arms to fix breakfast. It wouldn't be much of a surprise if she saw him do it, after all.

Natsuki smiled when she woke up and smelled pancakes, but became confused halfway out of bed. Who was cooking? She turned around to wake up Harry, but her previous question was suddenly answered.

Eyes wide, Natsuki rushed downstairs, freaking out at the idea of Harry cooking... Only to immediately relax when she saw her dad was helping him.

"...And then the chocolate chips go in...Like this." Harry instructed as Aki watched in intrigue.

"Why not earlier, before the batter was on the skillet?" Aki asked. The novelty of learning from a 5 year old was mostly gone at this point. "It doesn't seem to matter that much."

"They mix in too much," Harry explained. "This way, they're all right here. Good morning, Miss Natsuki." He'd finally noticed her, and waved the hand without a spatula in it as a hello.

Aki turned to look at his daughter, nodded, then looked away. Natsuki couldn't help but notice that he looked vaguely ashamed...

"Um...G'morning... Wasn't expecting to see you two guys making breakfast." Natsuki admitted, rubbing the back of her head

"It's not what it looks like, I'M the one learning here," Aki said. "Other than that, I'm just making sure nothing goes wrong." He hadn't asked where Harry learned his way around a kitchen, and he didn't think it was a good idea to do so.

"I figured that Harry would be the chef," Natsuki said. "You don't cook."

Aki rubbed the back of his head and looked away, not wanting to say anything at the moment. He feared putting his foot in his mouth...

Natsuki took a seat at the table and waited for the boys to finish cooking.

Soon the table was abounds with chocolate-chip pancake hills, syrup rivers, and buttery mountain tops. A bountiful feast in the morning if there ever was one. Harry and Natsuki were fast but polite, however Aki was noticeably slow, even for him.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Natsuki asked, tilting her head.

Aki looked up at her with tired eyes, then sighed deeply and rubbed his temples before putting the manga he had read yesterday on the table. "My manga!" Natsuki took it with a smile. "Wow, I figured you would've burned it after last night..."

"Nah...I actually read the whole thing..." Aki replied.

Natsuki had trouble processing what she'd just heard. Her father couldn't possibly have just said that he read a manga, could he? In her state, all she managed to get out was:

"Wha..." Thankfully, he got the message, or he was a good guesser.

"I happened to spot a page that... I guess resonated with me," he said. "So I read the rest of it. It was a trip. I also have a lot of apologizing to do, I realized. I've been grieving so long for the woman I lost, that I forgot about the young woman who still needed me." Natsuki tearfully gave a small laugh.

"You stole that from the manga." Aki chuckled.

"Yeah... I did. I'm sorry I misjudged you and your interests, and for the neglect, if it's even worth anything by now." His daughter rose from her plate and chair, circling around the table to wrap her arms around her dad's shoulders.

"I'm just happy that you're finally realizing it, no matter how long it took."

Aki sat silently for several moments before finally returning the hug. "I'm sorry, Natsuki...I'm so sorry..." He began to tear up, but never quite reached the point of full on crying. That...wasn't really his style.

"It's okay...As long as you understand now..." Natsuki breathed out.

Harry watched with a tilted head, not entirely sure what to think. It was really good that Miss Natsuki and Mr. Aki were apologizing and getting close again... And they were smiling, which he assumed meant they were happy... But they were also crying...Crying was a sad thing...Wasn't it?

He shook his head and pushed those thoughts away. It didn't matter right now...

Soon enough, Natsuki and Aki broke their hug, and returned to breakfast. "So, uh...You wanna...go and do something, after the kid's back home?" Aki asked.

Natsuki smiled. "I'd...I'd like that...

Harry smiled as he walked next to Natsuki, on the other side walked Aki, relaxed. Things seemed to be improving between him and Natsuki, or at least there was the chance for them to, and he was happy with that.

As much as Harry liked staying with the two, he was glad he was on the return trip to Monika's home.

He just...really missed Miss Monika, and Miss Sayori, and Inky. He slightly preferred Natsuki's regular visits. As the pair walked down the street, Harry remembered.

"Um...You're gonna ask Miss Monika about the no people thing, right?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that!" Natsuki says. Aki looks at Harry with confusion.

",No people thing'? What does that mean?" he asks.

"... You should talk to Miss Monika about that," Harry says slowly. "She knows more about it that me."

Aki scratched the back of his head. "Does look pretty dead out here..." He muttered.

"Have you even gotten any calls lately?" Natsuki asked.

"Not a one." Aki replied.

The walk continued, quiet. Two were confused, contemplative, and the third trying to evade notice. All three wished that their destination would arrive sooner.

"Hello everyone," Monika greeted, smiling. Harry jumped into her arms to hug her. "Aww, hi, Harry. Did you have fun?" She cooed. Harry nodded, and Monika kissed his forehead before they were ushered into the livingroom, and Sayori stole Harry away to another room. Monika turned to Natsuki and Aki. "I can tell you two have questions by the looks on your faces, tell me what's up."

"Okay, um...Where is everybody?" Natsuki asked. "I mean...Why is everyone just staying in their houses? This place has been a total ghost town lately..." Aki stayed silent, watching Monika.

Monika frowned before sighing deeply. "Well...This isn't gonna be easy to explain...Okay...So it's like this... We're kinda sorta...in a video game...?" There was a long silence as Monika waited for a reaction. Natsuki was looking at her like she grew a second head and started tap dancing. Aki groaned and buried his face in his hands.

"Please be serious about this..."

"I'm entirely serious about this," Monika said. "What reason could I have to lie? If it was one, how could I coordinate an entire town's disappearance?" She raised good points, so Natsuki humored her.

"... Say we are in a videogame... what does that make us?" she asked, hesitant.

"Believe it or not, this is one of this anime dating games. You know the literature club?" Monika asked, recieving a nod. "A player would make choices to get on the good side of one of us. That is, until I found out about it. I didn't do anything if they chose you, Sayori, or Yuri, but when they chose me I had options." She continued to explain the events of the game, skipping over the more twisted parts of the game, and ended with Harry's story.

"I... don't know... what to say..." Aki was thunderstruck, and stared at nothing. Anybody with military experience would have called it a 'thousand yard stare.' He blinked a few times. "I'll ask you, Monika, since you've been aware the longest... what do we do?"

Monika shrugged in response. "I hate to say it, but I have no idea. All I know is that there's gotta be a way out, if Harry found a way in." She replied.

"I see..." Aki mumbled, crossing his arms. "God...I dunno if I can believe this..."

Monika nodded her head in understanding. "I get it...It's a weird situation, and really tough to believe, but trust me...I am telling the honest truth." Aki said nothing, too deep in thought. If this Monika girl's words were true, if he was just a video game character... That meant that all those years of misery and mourning, all that time spent neglecting his daughter, hell, even his wife, were all just a fabrication. He never actually experienced these things...

Natsuki noticed her father's demeanour and put a hand on his shoulder in concern. "Dad? You okay?" She asked, worried. Aki looked away and nodded, mumbling that he was just thinking.

"Does anyone else not know?" Natsuki asked.

"Yuri is the only one left who doesn't know," Monika said. "With the way things have been going since Harry got here though, I think that'll change pretty soon." She turned to Aki, still lost in thought. "Do you have any more questions, or do you need some time?" Aki shook himself and cleared his throat.

"I... need some time." He slowly stood up and walked out of Monika's home, the door quietly clicking behind him.

Natsuki sighed and rested a hand on her forehead. "Geez...What a mess..."

Monika nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I was pretty shocked when I first found out about it too. But hey...It helps to know that you're not the only one, right? I totally panicked when I first figured it out." Monika rubbed the back of her head and chuckled lightly. "And I guess knowing a way out is possible helps too.."

"Yeah..." Natsuki mumbled, looking down.

"We'll get out, Natsuki," Monika said, moving to hug the pinkette. "I promise." Those words made escape seem all the more real for some indescribable reason, and Natsuki felt that even if it was just a promise, one with low success of ever becoming reality, it was the truth. She hugged Monika back.

"Okay," she smiled. They left the living room, Monika to fix lunch and Natsuki to find Harry.

Natsuki peeked into the kitchen to see Harry interacting with Sayori, who was currently cuddling him much like how one would a teddy bear. Natsuki couldn't help but smile at the scene. Harry really was a cute little guy. She stepped into the room and made her presence known. "Hey you two!"

Sayori turned with a bright grin. "Hi, Natsuki!"

"Hi, Miss Natsuki," Harry greeted as well. "How are you?"

"I've got a lot to think about, but I'll be alright later," Natsuki reassured him, walking over and ruffling his wild hair. "I think it would be impossible to not be at 100% with you around, you snugglebug."

"I'm no bug," Harry said convincingly from his cuddly spot in Sayori's lap. "But I'm happy you'll feel better."

Natsuki and Sayori both giggled at his response, and Natsuki picked him up and hugged him.

"Just an expression, little man." She explained, patting his head. Harry's mouth formed into an O shape and he nodded in understanding.

"Okay. I get it. But why a bug...? Bugs aren't very cuddly..." He looked thoughtful.

"Hmm..." Natsuki thought for a moment, finger on her chin. "Well, caterpillars are bugs, and they're all fuzzy. I'd say that's pretty snuggly." Harry nodded, satisfied with his answer. "Now that we know some bugs are snuggly, what should we do now?"

"We could play twenty questions," Sayori suggested. "It's no hide and seek, but I like it."

"What's twenty questions?" Harry asked.

"Okay, so I think of something, and you two have to try and guess what it is. But you only get twenty questions, and I can only answer yes or no. So you can try to ask the colour, if it's a person or object, if it's big or small, anything. Um...Does that make sense? Probably not, right?"

"I think I get it..." Harry replied.

"How about we play a few rounds and get you used to it?" Natsuki asked.

Harry agreed, and Sayori started the game.

"Is it big?' she asked Natsuki.

"No."

"Can it fit through a door?"

"Yes." Harry got how it went, and asked his own question.

"Does it have hair?"

"Yes."

"Is it brown?" Sayori asked.

"Nope."

"Is it soft?" Harry asked.

"VERY soft."

"Can you carry it around?" Sayori asked.

"Yes."

"Is it alive?" Harry asked. He had a hunch what the answer was.

"Yes."

"Is it Inky?" Sayori asked. Natsuki giggled as she answered yes, and the cat in question suddenly appeared and jumped into her lap.

Inky looked up at the pinkette and let out a mewl, earning a scratch under the chin.

"Inky!" Harry cheered at the sight of the kitten.

Inky looked at Harry and started purring intensely.

"Aww, he's happy to see you." Sayori giggled.

"Inky was easy, but I'll stump both of you with mine," Sayori boasted. The other two giggled at this, and a new game of twenty questions began.

After three more games, Monika called everyone down for lunch.

"Ooh, great! I'm starving!" Sayori cheered, rushing downstairs to get to the food before Natsuki even had time to make a "Surprise, surprise" joke.

Sighing, Natsuki gave Harry a small smile. "Guess it's time to eat then."

Monika had gone simple this time, and laid out a variety of finger foods. Cut veggies, berries, and mini sandwiches were on seperate platters on the table, and everyone picked what they wanted. Monika made sure Harry got enough on his plate.

Honestly, she was fussing over him like a mother hen, much to the other girls' amusement. As the four began to eat, Monika looked at Natsuki. "Any reason you didn't go after your dad?" Natsuki frowned.

"I've lived with him long enough to know that he needs time alone to think right now."

"I hope he figures things out," Harry said, looking at a bit of celery. Monika scratched his back.

"I'm sure he will," she reassured both him and Natsuki. They continued to eat for a while, and then Sayori offered to clean up. Afterwards, they tried to think of a new game.

Eventually, Monika decided to pull out an old board game, Monopoly.

The group of four played the game, when they eventually heard a knock on the door. Monika got up to answer it, and upon opening it, was surprised to find Yuri.

Hello, Yuri, what can I do for you?" Monika asked brightly.

"I heard that everyone was over at your house," Yuri explained. "I wanted to see what was going on."

"We're playing Monopoly right now, you're welcome to join us," Monika offered, gesturing inside. Yuri accepted and walked in.

Yuri entered the room somewhat shyly, messing with a strand of her hair. "Hi..."

"Oh, hi, Yuri!" Sayori chirped. "Now the gang's all here!"

"Uh-huh." Yuri mumbled, not quite used to being in other people's houses.

"Please come sit by me, Miss Yuri," Harry asked, recognizing her anxiety. He'd had a similar problem before. She gratefully did as he asked, and a game of monopoly began.

While the rules were stretched a bit to accomodate a fifth player, they all ended up having a good time.

Suddenly, there was another knock on the door. "It's open!" Monika called out. The door opened up, and then Aki stepped into the room with a calm expression.

"Hey, dad. You all right?" Natsuki asked.

"Yeah, I'm alright," he said. He noticed Yuri. "Good afternoon, Yuri was it?"

"Yes sir," she said, nodding. "Good afternoon to you as well."

Aki looked at Natsuki. "Hey, kiddo, I just stopped by to let you know I'm okay. I'll be waiting back home, okay?"

"Kay, dad. See you later." Natsuki replied.

"Bye, Mister Aki," Harry said, waving from his spot at the game. Aki smiled a little and waved back before he closed the door and left. Their game continued for a while, but eventually Natsuki said she had to go home.

"I should probably head out too," Yuri said, but Monika stopped her.

"Why not stay the night?"

Yuri frowned and shook her head wildly. "Oh...No, no, no, I REALLY don't want to impose...It wouldn't be right-" Monika put a hand over her mouth to silence her.

"Aw, don't be like that. It's no trouble at all."

Yuri blinked, then nodded. "O-Okay..." She squeaked.

"Yay, Miss Yuri is staying over!" Harry yelled, smiling wide. Everyone laughed at his outburst, finding it adorable. It made Yuri want to stay more than the invitation did. "What are we going to do later?"

"We could watch a few movies," Sayori suggested. "Maybe... Studio Ghib-"

"YES!" Harry and Yuri both interrupted, making them look at each other.

Harry looked down with a blush, twiddling his tiny fingers together nervously. "Um...S-Sorry for yelling... I just got...excited..." He mumbled shyly, prompting a hug and a reassuring smile from Monika.

"I'm sorry too...But...I didn't expect you to like Studio Ghibli, Harry..." Yuri said.

"Miss Monika showed me some movies... They were nice movies..."

"They're his favorites, but I think Spirited Away is his top pick," Monika said, and Harry hid his face behind his hands. "Those in favor of watching Harry's favorite movie?" Needless to say, everyone raised their hand.

Sayori made popcorn, not allowing Monika in the kitchen, and everyone else assembled what was now called a "comfort nest." They layered blankets over a bowl of pillows on the floor, creating a nest that was hard to get out of for how comfortable it was.

Monika was holding Harry close to her chest. He had spent two days with Natsuki, so she was going through a severe case of cuddle withdrawal that needed to be dealt with stat.

However, she found herself wondering about Yuri's presence. How had she known that everyone had been there? Monika had a suspicion that there was something Yuri was not telling them... Looking over, she frowned at the lacerations on the girl's wrist. They looked quite deep... She was going to need to talk to her before she ended up seriously putting herself in death's headlights.

Harry spent the entire movie wiggling around in excitement, almost vibrating in place like an overcharged dog. By the end of the movie he'd exhausted himself, and was almost asleep even before Monika put him to bed. After he was tucked in, she found Yuri.

"I want to talk to you," she said. She held the purplette's hands. "Tell me what happened to make you think that cutting your wrists was a good idea, Yuri."

Yuri tensed up, and then she began to tremble intensely. Monika frowned and tilted her head, a worried expression on her face. "Yuri? Are you alright?" Yuri shook her head. "...You wanna talk about it?" Yuri let out a soft squeak...and then threw herself into Monika's arms and broke down sobbing.

"I...I don't wanna do it anymore! I wanna stop! I...I can't stop myself! It...It wouldn't stop bleeding last night, and no one answered the phone when I tried to call for help! I...I'm trying so hard not to do it again, but...But..." She sobbed violently.

Monika could say nothing to her, and so made do by hugging the trembling girl in a tight embrace. It took her a minute to calm down, but Monika held her at arms length when she quited to sniffles.

"Please, tell me what's wrong. Don't hold it in any longer."

"I... don't know what's going on anymore," Yuri said. "Every day feels like a case of deja vu gone bad, and I don't remember hardly any time away from the book club when I try to. What's happening?!"

Monika gave the girl a sad smile. "Well...It's...not exactly easy to explain this, Yuri, but... We're in a video game. A dating simulator to be exact. We're the only ones here because we're the only ones programmed to be here."

Yuri stared silently at her. Then, she began to laugh.

"A video game... A video game... Hahaha...Hahahahaha... HAHAHAHA! A VIDEO GAME! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Monika's eyes widened at the sight of Yuri's manic laughter... But then she quickly grew horrified. Yuri pulled out one of her knives and was pointing it at her chest!

"Oh my God! YURI, NO!" Monika tackled the taller girl to the ground, and was now trying to wrestle the knife away from her.

Sayori and Harry ran in on the scuffle, eyes quickly widened by the sight of Monika saving Yuri from herself. With their help, Monika managed to get the knife away from the broken girl, now wearing a smile even as she cried while curled up on the floor.

"What's wrong with her?" Harry asked. Monika looked a thousand miles away, but managed to answer him in a hollow tone.

"She found out that something was wrong on her own like the others, but she's never been the most stable. She's given up, and tried to escape the only way she knew how, and thankfully she failed. I'm sorry you had to see her like this, Harry."

Harry looked confused, and slightly upset, as Yuri was now sobbing violently. "Let me go... Please just let me go... I'm sick of this...I can't..." The girl devolved into messy sobbing, and Monika carefully took the knife from her, sitting her up carefully and rubbing her back soothingly.

Then, Yuri found an unexpected saviour in the form of Inky.

The little black kitten had heard the commotion, and he had decided to make it his business to console the sobbing girl. Ths tiny cat crawled into Yuri's lap and began purring intensely.

Almost subconsciously, Yuri was petting Inky. The warm fuzzball was comforting to her, and she was in desperate need of comfort. Slowly but surely she calmed down until her tears stopped.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I've made you all scared and worried."

"For you, and you haven't made us angry," Monika said. "You don't need to apologize for this." Harry hugged Yuri, joining her and Inky on the floor.

"I don't have to be alone again, do I?" Yuri asked, and Monika shook her head.

"Not only that, but I won't allow it either. You're staying here until we get out."

Yuri stiffened, hugged Harry to herself, and began to tear up. "N-No, I couldn't... I really don't want to be a burden... Really, you don't have to-"

"I want you to stay." Monika said gently but firmly.

Yuri looked down and found herself looking face to face with Harry, who was looking up at her with worry. "You should stay... So you're not scared or lonely..."

Yuri stared at him for a few moments before looking at Sayori.

"C'mon, it'll be great! We'd love it if you stayed!"

"... Alright," Yuri said. Being so wanted was a new experience for her, even though it was her friends. "I-I'll stay."

"Good," Monika sighed, relieved that she wouldn't have to fight her on this. "I'll help you get your stuff in the morning, but I think we all need some sleep.

Yuri nodded her head slowly. Monika smiled.

"You should take Inky and Harry to sleep with you. They're very therapeutic." She said with a wink. Yuri tilted her head, then looked over at Harry.

"Would you be alright with that?" she asked. Harry nodded, somewhat embarrassed.

"I get scared when I sleep alone. It didn't go good the last time nobody was with me," he admitted, twisting the hem of his shirt.

"I'm the same way sometimes," Yuri said. "It might be nice to go to sleep knowing somebody is right next to you."

Harry nodded his head with a small smile. Yuri rose to her feet, hugging Harry close. He snuggled in closer, enjoying how soft her sweater was.

Yuri couldn't help but smile at how cute that was.

Monika giggled. "Well, good night, Harry." She kissed the boy's forehead.

"Goodnight, Miss Monika," Harry said as he was carried to the guest bedroom. After quickly brushing teeth and changing into pajamas, Harry was comfortably snuggled close to Yuri in bed. Despite her trying to go to sleep, she was tense, and Harry noticed. "Miss Yuri, are you okay?"

"... I don't know, Harry," she answered after a pause. "I don't know what to think about this whole thing."

"I hope you think what you want to someday," Harry said. He yawned, and mumbled something under his breath as he fell asleep.

Yuri looked at him with a tilted head. "...Me too, Harry... Me too." She looked down at him and smiled slightly. Then Inky, who had previously settled down on the floor, decided the bed would be more comfortable, and hopped up to join them with a meow. Yuri gave the kitten a small smile. "Hello Inky..."

"Mrow?" Inky tilted his head. Yuri giggled.

"You're so cute..." She scratched the kitten behind the ears.

He purred at the attention, and curled up in a spot between Harry and Yuri, cradled by two sources of heat. Soon all three of them were asleep, and Yuri was, for once, nightmare free.


	8. Chapter 8

Yuri had been sleeping soundly for eight hours straight, but was pulled from her slumber when Harry began to squirm around and whimper in his sleep. She opened her eyes with a groan and looked over. "Harry...?"

"... Please..." he mumbled. Even asleep, tears were streaming from his eyes. "... I didn't... mean to..." Yuri hugged Harry close, trying to comfort him in his nightmare.

"Shhh, it's alright," she whispered. "They can't hurt you, Harry. You're safe." She kept telling him things to encourage him, and slowly his nightmare subsided.

He hugged her back when he calmed down, and seeing as it was still the middle of the night, Yuri decided to go back to sleep. Her chin rested on top of his head as she slipped into sleep again.

When the sun peeked in through the curtains the next morning, Yuri groaned and opened her eyes. She looked down at Harry and smiled slightly when she saw their position hadn't changed.

She made no move to wake up, not wanting to disturb the sleeping child. He was just too cute for words, sleeping in his tiny little jammies...

The purple haired girl frowned deeply at the boy, thinking about what had happened last night. She figured holding him would keep nightmares away, but the nightmares had still slipped through regardless. Had she done it wrong? Or was the memory that intense?

Whatever the case, the smell of Monika cooking was a wakeup call that nobody, least of all Harry, could resist. He woke up soon after Yuri could smell bacon and pancakes, and smiled at Yuri when he opened his eyes.

"Good morning," Harry said, squeezing her waist. She smiled and ran her fingers through his hair.

Good morning, Harry," she said in kind, briefly understanding Natsuki's love of cute things.

Yuri sat up in bed, holding Harry against her chest and stirring Inky from his slumber on her chest, causing the cat in question to mewl in protest. She was quickly forgiven when she scratched the kitten behind the ears.

Harry, for his part, nuzzled into Yuri's embrace. Her hugs were almost as nice as Miss Monika's...

Smiling, Yuri carefully rose to her feet and made her way downstairs, carrying Harry and running her fingers through his hair.

Monika heard somebody coming downstairs. "Good morning!"

"Good morning, Miss Monika," Harry said. Yuri set him down and he walked over to hug Monika's waist. "Breakfast smells really good!"

"I thought Yuri might like a breakfast I had more practice with," she said, looking at the girl in suestion. "Both of you grab a plate, there's some ready now."

"Um...Right! Thank you!" Yuri replied with a small voice.

"Thank you Miss Monika." Harry said gratefully. And so Monika served the two up a plate of food each, which they carried to the table and began to eat in silence.

Inky entered the kitchen shortly afterward and began meowing to get Monika's attention. The brown haired girl giggled and scratched behind his ears. "Of course you need some food too, Inky." She took a few moments to fill Inky's food bowl, then went to wake Sayori, who was sleeping in on the couch.

"Sayoriiii~," she said in a sing-song voice. The sleeping girl just turned over. "Sayori, wake uuup~."

"Blaagh, what is it," Sayiri asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Everyone else is up, and there's pancakes ready," Monika said, giggling behind her hand at the state her friend was in.

Sayori perked right up at the word 'pancakes'. "Yaaaay, pancakes!" She cheered before rushing into the kitchen.

Monika smiled and shook her head. "That girl's just too funny..."

And so the four of them ate their breakfast in high spirits.

After things were washed up, a thought occurred to Yuri. "What exactly is the plan for getting out of this place?"

"Um..." Monika said. "That's... a work in progress?"

"There isn't one," Yuri said, sighing. "I thought as much."

"It's pretty difficult to escape a world in a computer, and I've never done it before," Monika said. "But if Harry can get in, then we can get out."

Yuri nodded her head and looked at the boy. "Yes, that's true..."

"Sorry I don't know how to get out." Harry apologized.

"It's not your fault, Harry. We'll figure something out." Monika assured the boy, ruffling his hair.

Yuri looked at the boy with a small frown. She was remembering the nightmare the poor thing suffered through the night prior. Just...how bad had he had it before coming here...?

"Harry, could I talk with you alone?" Yuri asked. She hoped she was dead wrong about her guess, but her morbid curiosity wouldn't let her drop this.

"Uh, yeah," Harry said. Yuri's tone had him scrunching up his face in confusion. What was she thinking? They walked into the backyard to talk.

"Before I ask, I want you to know that you don't have to answer if you don't want to," Yuri said. "But I have a question: what happened with the family you had in the real world that gave you nightmares?"

Harry tensed up at the question and began to tremble uncontrollably. Yuri quickly reacted and took a kneeling position in front of him, hugging him close.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry..." She whispered. "You don't have to tell me if you really don't want-" She was interrupted when Harry did give her the information she asked for...

And she quickly learned that true evil did, in fact, exist.

"U-Uncle V-Vernon got m-m-mad t-that I b-burned f-food one m-morning a-and beat m-me u-until I-I f-fell a-asleep f-for a w-whole d-day, a-and t-thathappennedalotoftimesandtherewereweekswhereididnteatbecauseofmymagic-" Yuri could hardly understand what Harry was trying to say through his jumbled stutter, but got enough. She just listened as he went on, eyes growing wider in horror as he went on, sobbing and shaking.

Eventually he slowed down, hiccuping tears interrupting his story. "... a-and *hic* I w-would be *hic* p-put outside i-in *hic* the g-garden n-no m-matter *hic, hic* t-the w-weather... a-and s-s-sometimes *hic*, Uncle V-Vernon w-would b-b-beat m-me f-for n-no reason a-at a-all..."

He was quiet, whether from shame or the pain his memories brought back Yuri didn't know. She slowly drew the damaged, wonderful boy into a gentle hold. She was crying at the injustice of it all. That someone like Harry had to endure that hell for no reason set a fire in her heart.

"I-I'm s-so sorry, H-Harry," she said,

Harry whimpered in response, and Yuri hugged him tighter, rocking him back and forth gently to soothe his mental state the best she could. She was shaking from head to toe.

These monsters... These monsters deserved worse than hell... They deserved to SUFFER...

"They'll never hurt you again, Harry," Yuri told him. "I promise." He hugged her back and buried his face in her shoulder.

Monika smiled sadly at them from the window. Anytime his "family" was brought up was a sad occasion, and stirred up the anger she held for the Dursleys. Yet, despite what she and the others knew happened, she somehow couldn't imagine Harry wanting to hurt the Dursleys.

Sighing softly, she shook her head and took a seat at the kitchen table, messing with a strand of her hair. "It'll be okay, Harry... I promise..." She whispered.

Back outside, Yuri had by now picked the boy up and was cradling him like a baby against her bosom, rocking him back and forth.

Yuri and Harry both felt a sense of peace, Harry from getting a lot of things off his chest, and Yuri from holding Harry close. It wasn't nice to think about their pasts, but for now things were good.

Harry inevitably fell asleep from a combination of rocking and warm sunlight, and Yuri giggled quietly as she carried him inside.

Monika glanced up as Yuri entered. "Glad to see you two are getting along so well." She said with a smirk. Yuri blushed and smiled softly.

"Yes, well...He is very easy to get along with..."

"Really? The sweetest boy in the world is easy to get along with?" Monika asked, rolling her eyes and smiling. "I had no idea." Yuri pouted and gave a small huff.

"I'm going to take a nap with him, I'll see you in a little while," Yuri said, and Monika waved them off.

"That's everyone," she said to herself when she was alone. "Now what?"


	9. Chapter 9

The wizarding world was putting forth the efforts to find Harry. They had sent out tracking charms in an attempt to get a read on where he may be, but this wielded no results.

At least, until today...

Albus had come up with the idea to search for him in a place that had been charmed to hide him, like an unplottable house. To do this, he'd invented a more powerful detection charm that would point to entrances of places instead of the person you were trying to find.

With it, they were directed to a surprising answer: muggle computers. Not a specific computer, just the one nearest the user of the charm. They were directed to a specific game, some muggle rubbish called Doki Doki Literature Club, and they were somehow supposed to enter the game itself.

"Albus, with all due respect, are you sure you haven't gone senile?" Severus asked the man upon being told the news. "This is a very serious situation we're in, and you're here claiming Harry has been pulled into some muggle game? Absurd." Severus Snape never imagined he'd be playing such a major part in helping the son of that bloody James Potter... But honestly, who could hate a child that suffered that much?

"I assure you I'm well within the bounds of sanity for at least two more years, Severus." Dumbledore replied with a small smile. "And I am every bit as confounded as you no doubt are."

Severus sighed. "... Say you're right, that you're not crazy, your charm worked, and Potter is now in that game. We had to create new magic just to get this far, what idea could you possibly have to get him out of there, Albus?"

"I don't yet," he admitted. "But I know he's alive, and that there must be some magic capable of retrieving him. I will spend a great deal of my time rolling this problem around in my head, Severus, tell Minerva to take over for the weekend." Snape raised a single eyebrow.

"A vacation? Of all the times-"

"No, Severus, two days of nonstop study and theory," Dumbledore interrupted. "I haven't done something like that since I defeated Grindelwald, and that must show my desperation more than anything else. I'll see you on Monday." With a sharp crack of finality, Dumbledore apparated to Merlin knows where.

Severus stared blankly at the spot the old man had disappeared to before slowly bringing both hands to his face and sighing deeply. "Honestly..." He muttered.

On Monday, Dumbledore apparated into his office with bags under his eyes and ruffled robes. He opened a drawer in his desk and chugged a pepper-up potion like his life depended on it, and sighed as he dropped into his cushioned chair. The last two days had been a blur of paper, magic, and failure, made all the blurrier by sleep deprivation and far too many potions to keep himself awake. Snape burst through the door with all the drama of a thunderstorm, but any complaints he was about to throw at Dumbledore died on his lips when he saw the old man half-dead in his chair.

"Merlin, Albus, what did you do?" he asked, incredulous. With a groan, Dumbledore sat up and pointed to a scroll on his desk, tiredly grinning.

"I succeeded." With that, he fell back into his chair and crashed into sleep.

Back in the game, the girls and Harry were all sitting at the table, playing a board game. Much to the girl's amazement, Harry was beating them easily.

"Geez, I'm getting destroyed by a kid..." Natsuki mumbled, rubbing the back of her head.

"Well it is a children's game." Yuri reasoned.

"Waaah!" Sayori cried, thumping her forehead into the table. She was losing the hardest out of the group, and was taking it badly. Harry was somewhat concerned, but Monika reassured him.

"She's fine, Sayori just hates losing," she explained. Harry nodded, and returned to the game. He rolled double five, and moved even further ahead.

Natsuki rubbed her temples. "I swear, you have the craziest luck I've ever seen..." She muttered. Harry smiled shyly at her comment and looked down.

"Y-Yeah...I... I got to come here, so I do have really good luck..." He said softly.

Natsuki fell out of her chair clutching her chest. "Gah! My heart! He's too cute!" She yelled, doing a girly "squee" into the carpet. Similar, but much less energetic, reactions were happening around the table.

"Awww," Monika said. Her hands cupped her face. The moment was interrupted by Harry's victory. Sayori squinted at Harry's grinning face.

"You planned this, I know it," she accused, pointing at his chest. She was smiling though, which spoiled any chance she had at being threatening.

Harry looked away nervously. "Uh-uh..." He mumbled softly. "I didn't plan anything... I'm sorry..." Monika giggled and patted his head gently.

"Don't apologize for winning. You're just good at the game, that's all." Harry smiled.

"Rematch!" Sayori exclaimed.

The new game had barely started, but it was easy to tell that Harry was already ahead. Monika was happy for him, and was having a great time laughing at Natsuki's complaints. Yuri was also happy that Harry was enjoying himself.

"This is now officially past beginners luck!" Natsuki said. She was second to last on the board, and was letting everyone know it. She turned to Monika. "Somehow he's better at it than all of us! Have you been training him to be a board game master?"

Monika rested her chin on her hands with a smirk on her face. "I will neither confirm nor deny this." She said, winking at her pink haired friend, who huffed.

"I'll train in the mountains, and when I come back, I WILL win this game." Judging by her tone, it was difficult to tell whether she was serious or not.

Unsurprisingly, Harry won again, a fact that had Natsuki bumping her head on the table.

"Aaagh," she moaned, punctuating her loss with another thump. Monika pat her shoulder and turned to the other.

"I think she's had enough of this game." They were quick to agree.

Harry patted Natsuki on the head to console her.

Soon afterwards, they were all sitting in the living room, watching the television.

They decided to watch Toy Story this time around.

It was a little awkward for the girls at the gas station scene. Actually, the entire idea of the movie being about living toys hit a little close to home.

"You, are, a, TOY!" yelled one of the characters, and Yuri visibly winced. All of them were given a harsh reminder that their world was made of nothing but code.

However, they chose not to say anything about it. Harry was really invested in the movie and they really didn't want to ruin the experience for him.

And awkwardness aside, it genuinely was a good film. However, it did greatly increase their desire for freedom from their prison...

A desire that would soon be granted if Dumbledore had anything to say about it.

When he'd recovered from his sleepless studying, he presented his new spell to the Wizengamot to inform them on its use as well as to get a green light to rescue Mr. Potter from his digital prison. He was quickly approved, and then he began the setup.

Dumbledore took a deep breath as he prepared to make the journey.

'Soon, Harry, I will be able to make things right for you...Just hold on a little bit longer..."

He decided to prepare the gate outside of Hagrid's hut, and to have the half-giant guard the entrance into the game.

"I should be back within the hour," Dumbledore said. He was putting the finishing touches on the symbols and circles. "Make sure to not let anything enter the ring, not so much as your toe or a bird."

"Yeh can count on me, Professor Dumbledore Sir," Hagrid said. Were he a dog, he'd be wagging his tail uncontrollably at that moment. Dumbledore nodded at the groundskeeper, and then focused on the gate.

Space wobbled, rippling the air as though a bonfire was burning unseen in the center of the ring. Then wobbling became a flexing. Space was pushing in and out like a bowl, and Hagrid turned away from the magic, a little green from the strange sight. With one last outwards push, the center of the dome fell inwards, and a hole in the air was made. Dumbledore walked through.

Hagrid watched with a nervous salute. He just hoped his idol came back safely...

Inside the game world, while they watched the television, Monika felt a disturbance. She tensed up and looked out the window, eyes wide.

"Monika? What's up?" Sayori asked, tilting her head.

"...Something's going on out there..."

Sayori was about to ask what, but was silenced by the glitches going on outside the house. Textures swapped and colors changed at random, and when it stopped space seemed to be bending in the middle of the road.

Everyone walked outside to see what was going on, but kept their distance from the weird chunk of air. It heaved out further than before after a minute, then fell inwards and left a hole the size of a door in the middle of the street.

An old man with a really crooked nose, a pointed hat on his head, long beard, and VERY colorful robes stepped out of the hole, looking at the girls with the same amount of surprise as they were looking at him. He cleared his throat.

"Terribly sorry to disturb you, but I'm on important business," Dumbledore said. "Would you ladies happen to know the whereabouts of a Harry Potter?"

The girls stared at the man in shock before Monika took a step forward. "You...You're from the real world...!" Dumbledore blinked in surprise before smiling.

"Ah, yes, indeed I am, young lady. Or at the very least I should hope so." His eyes twinkled merrily. "I'm quite surprised, however. I hadn't imagined you would be aware of your situation."

"I've been aware forever...Ever since the game was created... I...Wow...This is incredible... You managed to come here... You must know a way out too...!"

"Oh yes, of course. But I still need my question answered... Do you know where I may find Harry Potter?"

Monika had a sudden bout of suspicion. What if this man didn't have good intentions for Harry? He hadn't exactly been well treated in the real world. For the moment he was hidden behind her, and she gently stepped on his foot when he tried to move around her to see the man.

"That depends, who are you?" Monika asked.

"I am Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," Albus replied, boggling everyone. "I am the headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Monika nodded her head at the new information. "I see. And just what exactly do you want with Harry, anyway?" Dumbledore frowned at the suspicious tone in her voice. The other girls were also stepping up to shield Harry from view, Yuri subtly putting her hand on one of her knives should the old man try anything.

Dumbledore sighed deeply and rubbed his temples.

"I am an old man who made a grave mistake. I believed his relatives would be able to put their prejudice aside and properly raise their nephew...And I put my eggs in the wrong basket."

"That's understating it," Natsuki growled. The rest of them also felt their figurative hackles rise now that they had the person who'd dropped Harry head-first into five years of abuse right in front of them.

"You don't even know what happened, do you?" Monika asked venemously, and Albus winced. "You think he maybe went hungry, maybe got hit, maybe slept in a literal cupboard. But no, he's been through so much worse, and all four of us are ready to fight tooth and nail if it means keeping him from going back in, at the hands of the same man who delivered him to that... wretched place to begin with!"

The old man took his glasses off his face, and his sorrow showed. "Young lady, my regrets and mistakes outnumber my victories, more so than I could ever dream to fix in what's left of my life." A tear slipped from his tired eyes as he looked at Monika, almost pleading. "I ask... no, beg, that you at least let me help mend this one. I swear, had I known the outcome of my decision five years ago to place him with the Dursley's, I would have done everything in my power to find him a new home, after burning that one to the ground."

The girls' expressions softened at his gaze. Sayori looked at her friends. "...Well... I think he's telling the truth, but...does this mean he's gonna take Harry away from us?"

Dumbledore blinked. "Hmm? Take him from you?" He looked lost for a brief moment before his eyes widened in realization. "I see... So then the entire time he's been here... You girls have been taking care of him...?"

"How could we not?" Yuri asked, holding Harry's hand as he moved from behind Monika. "He needed help."

"Plus he's super cute. Just look at him!" Natsuki said, gesturing towards the shuffling boy with both hands. The others giggled at her behavior, but Dumbledore was stunned at this development. Here was the boy who he'd been praying for the safety of, happy and well taken care of. Maybe this one was already fixed.

"I'm overjoyed that Harry is in the care of you four," Albus said. "However, he must be brought back tothe real world. I intended to bring home one person, but it looks as though I'm returning with five."

"Six." Dumbledore was again confused. "My father is also in here, and I want him to come with us," she explained.

"Oh, and also a kitten." Sayori said. As if on cue, Inky walked outside, mewling curiously. Harry picked up his pet and hugged him.

Dumbledore chuckled. "I see, I see. Well then, let's contact your father. It's imperative that we leave as soon as possible. There's no telling when the portal may close on us."

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Natsuki said, running off to her home as the others rushed inside to pack their belongings. She didn't even break a sweat while she ran, her excitement had given her energy. They were getting out!

It took her two minutes to reach her home, and she burst through the door in a similar fashion to a SWAT team.

"Dad! We're leaving, pack up your important stuff and come quick!" she yelled, stuffing her manga in bags in a frenzy not knowing how much time she had left. Aki was startled from reading in his study and looked at his daughter in shock from the door. "Nat, what are-"

"No time! We're getting out of here, come on!" she told him, prompting him to pack along with her. They rushed out the front door. He picked her up so that they could be faster, and she explained what happened on the way.

Aki was staring forward blankly as they moved. First being a video game character... Then some old wizard guy showing up to take them out... His life was weird.

Back by the portal, the others were waiting patiently, having collected what they wanted to bring with them. Harry decided he was going to talk to Dumbledore. "Um...Hi..." He said timidly, stepping up to the old man.

Dumbledore smiled at him, the famous friendly twinkle in his eye. "Hello, Harry, how are you?"

"I-I'm fine, Mr. D-Dumbledore," Harry said, trying to smile. It didn't quite work, so he stopped. Talking to people was a lot harder than he thought it would be. "S-So, I guess I-I really am a w-wizard."

Dumbledore nodded his head. "Ah yes, you certainly are... And a very powerful one at that."

Harry looked down shyly. "Oh...Um... Wow...I'm powerful...? That's um...good, right...?" Dumbledore smiled merrily.

"That would depend on your choices, young Harry. If you choose the right path, then it would be a very good thing indeed."

"I'll try," Harry said. Aki and Natsuki came running around the corner at that moment, both of them excited.

"You must be this young woman's father," Dumbledore said, extending his hand once Aki had set Natsuki on her feet. "I'm Albus Dumbledore, a professor at Hogwarts school."

Aki shook his hand. "Akishimo, a pleasure Professor Dumbledore," Aki said. "From what my daughter says we're short on time." Dumbledore nodded.

"Indeed we are, please walk this way."

Aki looked over at the portal and nodded. "Right. Girls, you go in first."

Monika picked up Harry and Inky, holding them against her chest. "Okay, guys...Get ready to meet the real world!" And, wasting no time, the young woman rushed right through.


	10. Chapter 10

Hagrid could easily say that he was nervous, even a little scared. The man he owed so much to had vanished into a portal, and there was nothing he could do to help him except to guard the entrance. He felt like he could do more, but if Professor Dumbledore wanted him here, then he'd stay put.

His thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of three figures that he didn't expect: a tall lady, a messy-haired boy, and a tiny black kitten.

"Er, 'ello there," Hagrid greeted, waving a giant hand at the group.

Monika stared wide-eyed at the half giant before slowly walking up and poking at him with her index finger. Hagrid looked at her and chuckled. "Oi now, missy, 'aven't ye ever seen a 'alf giant before?" Monika looked up at him before her mouth broke into a huve smile.

"You're real... You're a real person... You're a real person, and right now, we're in the real world! THIS IS THE REAL WORLD! I'M FINALLY REAL!"

Hagrid stared at her. "Erm...Yep, last I checked, this is definitely the real world."

Right behind Monika came Natsuki and Aki, and Dumbledore walked beside Yuri and Sayori behind them, each holding onto the luggage they had brought along. The portal to the Literature Club closed.

"We're... out," Yuri said. "It's real." Hagrid wondered what happened to make them like this, and as subtly as a half-giant could (not very), he directed a loudly whispered 'what?' to Dumbledore.

"I'm sorry, Hagrid, but I won't be able to answer your questions before I answer theirs, and vice versa," Albus said.

"I-but-uh-I-but," Hagrid spluttered. Things couldn't get any more confusing for him if a centaur wandered out of the forest and asked to use a telephone. Eventually he stopped himself, and gave a somewhat resigned sigh. "Alright, Professor Dumbledore. Just, ah, promise I'll know what's happened later?"

Dumbledore nodded his head to Hagrid. "Of course, my friend. All will be explained in good time." Albus turned his attention to the group from the game world. "Ask your questions."

"Okay...Um...So first of all, what country are we in?" Sayori asked before gasping in realization. "Oh! England! Because you have the accents!" Dumbledore chuckled.

"That is correct, my dear."

"Okay, so here's my question... What are we gonna do about living arrangements?" Aki asked as he stepped forward. The girls all deflated at his words. They hadn't even thought of that. So eager were they to reach the world of reality that they had paid no heed to where they would stay once they got there.

"I will see if I can't find a place for you to live permanently," Dumbledore said. "For now, it is summer, and you may live in the castle."

"Castle?!" Natsuki asked. She turned around to look for it, and suddenly wondered how she missed it. "Whoa..."

"Indeed. That is the castle we use to hold classes. This castle is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But for now, it is your summer home."

"School inside a castle... That's amazing..." Yuri whispered.

"There are a few things you must know," Dumbledore said, appropriately sounding like a teacher. "Firstly, no matter how lost you may be, the paintings will never give good directions, so don't bother asking. Secondly, the staircases like to move, be careful of that. Third, the Forbidden Forest has its name for a reason, stay out of it if you wish to keep your body in one piece." His introduction didn't inspire much confidence.

"I'm sure we'll figure it out," Sayori said.

"Don't ask the pictures for directions...?" Natsuki muttered under her breath. "This whole mess just gets weirder and weirder..."

"Ah yes...The wizarding world has much to introduce to you all." Dumbledore said with a nod.

A few hours (and many surprises) later, everyone was set up in a few unused teacher dorm rooms. Harry was with Monika and Sayori, while Yuri would be staying with Natsuki and Aki. Currently, everyone was having dinner in the great hall.

"I'm going to have to get used to the staircases," Yuri said. "I'm glad they move predictably though."

"I just want to find all of the secret passages," Natsuki said. "If we found the one, there's bound to be more."

"I dunno about that..." Sayori said nervously. "I don't wanna go around doing stuff like that... What if it's against the rules?" Natsuki pouted.

"Yeah, but-"

"And there's also the possibility that we'll run into something dangerous." Yuri cut in.

"Dangerous?" Monika asked. "It's a school for eleven to eighteen year olds, what danger could there be? Besides, the secret passages sound like an easier way to get around. I'm with Natsuki here."

The other two thought about it, eventually agreeing with Monika despite their hesitance. Natsuki made the suggestion to go looking for passages after dinner.

"Sounds like a good idea, curfew isn't until ten o' clock," Sayori said. "We... probably won't be breaking rules if we stick to that."

Aki let out a sigh. "Well, better tag along with you kids...Got nothing better to do. Plus I'll be keeping you out of trouble." Nstsuki playfully smacked her dad's shoulder and he chuckled.

"It's settled then," Monika said. She leaned down a little and had Harry climb on her back. "We should split into two groups, Yuri comes with us, and Sayori goes with Natsuki and Aki."

"Why split?" Aki asked.

"Cover more ground, but I think pairs is just asking for trouble. We can meet back in the dorm area at a quarter to ten," Monika explained, and the two groups parted to look for secret passages.

Yuri shivered and hugged herself as she, Monika and Harry explored the corridors. "I...I feel a weird chill in the air, is it just me...?" She asked nervously.

"No, there's definitely something." Monika agreed.

"Weeeell, what's this? Students in school before a new semester?" an annoying voice asked. The three looked around, but couldn't find who was speaking. "Up here, nitwits!" Harry was the first to spot the poltergeist, and he hid behind Monika.

"Hello, who might you be?" She asked, ignoring the insult for the moment. He cackled at them, and gave a mock bow as he zoomed to the floor.

"I'm Peeves, annoyance extroardinaire!"

"Well, Peeves, you were mistaken when you called us students," Monika corrected. "We're visitors, but in a few years Harry here will be attending this school." The see-through midget clasped his hands together and cooed.

"Awwww, ickle Harrikens too small to go to school?" he asked, then blew a rasberry at them. "Pbthh! What a joke! He looks like he'd keel over if Snape so much as walked within twenty paces!"

Harry looked down nervously, feeling reminded of Dudley's cruel teasing by the ghost's nasty comments. Monika noticed and scowled at the ghost.

"Get out of here. You don't know anything about Harry, and you have no right to pick on him like that. Now beat it, before I get mad." Peeves laughed.

"Oooh, I'm shaking in my-"

"You heard the young lady, Peeves." A cold, stern voice sounded out, and the poltergeist froze up on the spot before slowly turning to look at the source of the voice.

"Oh, M-Mr. Bloody Baron, sir! I...I was just talking to the guests! Yes, just talking to them! I did nothing wrong!" The Bloody Baron glared at Peeves, clearly not buying it.

"Eek!" He fled in a hurry, blubbering out excuses that nobody could understand until he went through a wall. The Bloody Baron looked at them apologetically.

"I am sorry if he caused you trouble, he's an embarassment to the other ghosts in the castle," he said. "We've tried everything to get him out of here, but nothing works."

"Well, hopefully he's the only one that Harry will have to worry about when he attends here in six years," Monika said. The baron chuckled at her.

"I like your spark, you'd have fit well in my house," he said. Monika tilted her head at him.

"House? What do you mean?"

"Ah, you see, there are four houses here at Hogwarts. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Students are assigned to these houses based on personal traits."

"Personal traits...? Um...So what personal traits decide what students get into which house?"

"Gryffindor students have incredible courage. Slytherins have great ambition. Ravenclaws are highly intellgent, and Hufflepuffs are known for being pure of heart."

Monika stored this away for later, thinking it might be useful. "Well, thank you very much, Baron for scaring away Peeves and talking with us." Harry then surprised her by speaking up.

"Um... I'm sorry to trouble you, Mr. Baron, but would you happen to know any secret passages? We were looking for them when Peeves caught us." Harry didn't know the Bloody Baron too well, but he liked what he did know, and felt comfortable enough to talk with him.

The Baron nodded his head. "Indeed I do, dear boy. I have resided here for many years. Perhaps I could guide you through the school's corridors."

"Thank you very much, Bloody Baron," Monika said, smiling at the Slytherin house ghost. He was a perfect gentleman, and indeed knew many of the secret passages on the different floors.

During their explorations, they happened upon Sayori's group. They too were being led by a ghost as well, this one looking like a knight.

"It looks like we all found some help moving about," Aki said with a chuckle. He insticntively raised his hand for a handshake with the Baron, but stopped his hand halfway and put it back at his side, muttering about not making the same mistake twice.

"Any luck finding passages?" Natsuki asked. "We've been shown four or five from dungeon to third floor."

"The Baron has shown us six passages so far," Yuri said. "I'm surprised that there are so many." The Baron chuckled.

"Hogwarts is a castle first and a school second," he explained. "It's helpful to have secret passages in case you have to take it back from an invader. Besides, it feeds the imagination, wondering how many secrets a castle this large holds."

"Yes indeed, Hogwarts is a place of many wonders!" The other ghost agreed. "Oh yes, I forgot my manners... My name is Sir Nicholas! But you may call me Nearly Headless Nick!"

Yuri blinked. "Nearly headless? How can one be nearly headless?"

"Like this." Nick grabbed his hair and pulled to the side, causing his head to nearly come right off his body, held in place only by a shred of 'skin'.

Monika, Natsuki, Sayori, and Harry all let out an "eep!" at the sight of a ghost's head almost coming off, but Yuri seemed more interested than disgusted.

"It wouldn't be too rude of me to ask how that happened, would it?" she asked. Sir Nicholas shook his head.

"Not in the least, my dear," he said, smiling as he flicked his head back into place. He adopted a sad look, and began his tale of woe. "I was to be beheaded, as one might guess. However, the executioner had a dull sword. It took twenty swings to get him this far, and since I am still with an attached head, I may not join the Headless Hunt. It shames me to this day."

Yuri was intrigued. "The headless hunt? What's that?" And so the group continued their exploration of the castle, Yuri listening intently to Nearly Headless Nick's description of the hunt.

"Wow...Amazing...It's just like one of my books..." The girl said in amazement.

As the tour continued, the group of five found themselves encountering a member of Hogwarts' staff, a hook nosed man with greasy black hair, making his way up the stairs.

The man noticed Harry, and for a brief moment, had an expression of rage, before correcting himself. 'He is not his father... He is not his father...'

Thankfully Harry had been distracted and hadn't noticed the slipup. When Harry noticed the man, despite his unease, he introduced himself.

"Hello, sir, my name is Harry Potter," he said. "We're having a tour of the castle, and so far it's great!"

"I'm certain it is. I am Professor Snape, the potions teacher." He squinted at Harry. "You don't look even close to being old enough to attend, just how old are you?"

"He's five, Professor Snape," Monika answered, a warning in her voice and look. "And please adjust your tone with him."

"'Adjust my tone'?" Snape quoted, raising an eyebrow at her. "I was asking a question, and as for tone, I speak no differently to this boy than I do any of my students."

"I only ask because... well, I'll put it lightly and say he's been through a lot," Monika said, and Harry looked down to hide his eyes.

Snape's mouth formed into a thin line. "Yes, so I've been told..." The man looked at Harry. "The boy looks a lot like his father..." He said softly.

Harry perked up. "You knew my daddy...?"

Snape nodded. "Indeed, I had the... 'pleasure' of knowing your father." Snape replied, trying to keep his contempt for James Potter out of his voice.

Monika caught on and frowned. "You don't seem to happy with his dad..."

"James and I...didn't see eye to eye on many things." Snape replied, deciding not to go into detail on what a bastard James Potter was.

"I...see. Well...Let's keep Harry's idealized dad in his head, shall we?" Aki stepped in.

Snape glanced down at the boy, son of the man he despised and the woman he loved. With a short sigh, he made up his mind to see Lily in him instead of James.

"Very well," he said. He didn't realize how tiring it would be to see the boy. Speaking of whom, he turned to look him in the eye. "Don't expect my class to be easy when you attend it, Mr. Potter. I expect nothing but perfection from all of my students."

"I'll do my best, s-sir," Harry said.

Snape nodded his head in satisfaction with the answer. "I would recommend learning the basics early on. I'm sure a...muggle raised child would take interest in studying our world."

"Muggle? What's that? Sounds nasty." Natsuki said with a frown.

"It's what we call non magic folks such as yourself."

"...Couldn't have picked a more demeaning sounding word for it if you tried."

Snape could think of one, but he didn't exactly want to say a near curseword in front of a child. "Many wizards feel that their magic makes them superior, a lot of them in places of power. More than likely you could place blame on them. Excuse me, but I have brewing potions that require my attention." With that, and a lot of dramatic cape flapping, Snape was gone.

"Where can I get a cape like that?" Natsuki asked out loud when he was out of earshot.

Aki crossed his arms and scowls. "If wizards think they're better than us because of some fancy magic, we won't be getting along too well."

"The wizards that Professor Snape speaks of are what's known as Purebloods," the Bloody Baron explained. "They chifly believe that muggle blood weakens magic, and so hate muggles and people that associate with them." Sir Nicholas picked up where he left off.

"Thankfully, that rotten bunch is a comparatively small group," he explained. "Unfortunately, as Snape also said, they are also very political."

"Ah... Politics... Lovely." Monika mumbled with her arms crossed over her chest. The baron chuckled.

"Indeed, they can be a nuisance."

"Shall we continue, Baron?" Nicholas asked. "There are more passages to show these ladies and gentleman, though doubtless there are more secrets for young Harry to find for himself."

The Baron nodded. "Indeed, come along." The tour continued without much trouble, and Harry soaked up everything that was said.

Soon enough, the group had seen almost the entirety of the castle. However, eventually, Harry got sleepy.

"I think Harry is ready for bed, everyone. Would it be alright if we continued tomorrow when he's had some good sleep?" Monika asked. The Baron and Nicholas agreed, and said goodnight to the group after escorting them to their rooms.

"I quite like the lad," Nicholas commented. The Baron and himself were drifting through a corridor near where they'd dropped off Harry and the rest. "His shall be an interesting seven years I'll wager."

"I'm more concerned than anything else, I have to admit," the Baron said. "You must have seen the look in his eyes, Nicholas." The other ghost sighed sadly.

"Indeed I have, though I'm sorry to see young Harry with that look."

Back in the room, Monika was tucking Harry in for bed while Sayori used the shower. She smiled as Inky hopped up onto the bed and curled up on Harry's chest.

"Nice and comfy, Harry?" Monika asked, to which Harry nodded. "Good. Want me to see if I can try to find a bedtime story?" Harry's eyes lit up.

"Yes please." He said eagerly. Monika giggled and then began to think of a story to tell.

"Hmm... I think I've got one," she smiled, then cleared her throat. "In a land far from here, filled with strange people and stranger culture, a child is born to a chief of a small tribe. On his back was the mark of dragons, three white, jagged, scar-like lines. It foretold his greatness, and his power." Her story continued for half an hour, until Harry fell asleep in her arms.

Monika giggled softly and smiled down at the sleeping boy, rocking him back and forth gently before kissing him on the forehead. "Sleep tight." She whispered softly to avoid waking Sayori, who had come in forty five minutes prior and gone to sleep herself. Harry snuggled in closer.

Monika used the quiet moment to reflect on things. Not even two days ago she'd been resigned to living in a video game world forever, and a few months before that she didn't have the best part of her life running about and cheering her up. Now, she was in the real world, she had Harry, and she'd found hope for the future.

She gently pulled Harry to her chest as she closed her eyes, drifting into slumber with a smile on her lips.

However, before she could fall asleep, she heard something... Harry spoke in his sleep, and what he said woke her almost immediately.

"Mama..."

Monika's heart came close to exploding with happiness. A tear ran from her eye as she held him just a little tighter, and smiled.

The next morning dawned slow for the guests of Hogwarts, most of them laying in bed for a long while. Harry and Monika were the exception.

The two of them had woken up early, and Monika was sitting on the bed, fondly watching Harry play with Inky using a small piece of string.

Monika couldn't help but wonder if Harry at all remembered what he said last night.

"Hey, Harry?" Monika said, making Harry turn his head towards her. "Do you... remember what you said last night? Right before you fell asleep?" He screwed up his face in thought, trying to remember. After a moment he went wide-eyed and red.

"I... called you mama," he said, putting his blushing face in his hands. Monika smiled and side-hugged him.

"Do you want to call me that? It won't upset me if you do." Harry peeked at her from behind one of his hands, and she squeezed him encouragingly.

"... Y-Yeah..." he said.

Monika gave him a warm smile and hugged him tightly against her bosom. "Okay then... I guess I'm mama from now on... Or maybe I should say...Momika..." Her joke was diminished by the tearful quake in her voice. She was just...so, so happy that she couldn't help but cry a bit.

"M-Mama..." Harry squeaked out softly.

"Yes, that's right... Mama's here..." Monika whispered, rocking the boy back and forth gently. She felt his tiny form begin to shake and kissed his cheek.

"I...I wanna cry but I'm not sad..."

She laughed a little, and then sniffled. "I'm the same way. It just means you're really happy." They were quiet as they hugged each other after that, Harry content to enjoy a mothers embrace for the first time (that he could remember), and Monika hugging the child that she now saw as her laughed a little, and then sniffled. "I'm the same way. It just means you're really happy." They were quiet as they hugged each other after that, Harry content to enjoy a mothers embrace for the first time (that he could remember), and Monika hugging the child that she now saw as her son.

The mood was promptly ruined, however, when Sayori woke up with a loud, exaggerated yawn. "Morning already...? Shoot..." She muttered before lying back down and closing her eyes.

"Oh no you don't, Sayori. Wake up." Monika said mirthfully.

"Don't wanna..." she mumbled, already drifting back. Harry ripped off the covers, making Sayori shriek at the cold air and send a tooth-chattering glare at the boy. He smiled apologetically.

"She told me to do it," he said. Her glare turned on a smiling Monika, but by then she had already lost all warmth and was wide awake. With a defeated sigh, Sayori got out of bed.

Grumbling under her breath, she made her way to the bathroom. Harry winced. "Um...She seemed a bit mad..." He mumbled softly, somewhat unnerved.

"No, it's fine, she's just not a morning person. She'll be fine once she has some breakfast." Monika replied as she picked her son up and hugged him.

Sayori quickly finished getting ready, and then Monika helped Harry to freshen up. When they were ready, they walked down to the great hall beside Yuri, Natsuki, and Aki.

"Good morning, everyone," Dumbledore greeted from his chair, already enjoying toast, sausage, and bacon. "I trust that your first night in the castle left you well rested?

Monika nodded her head. "Yes, everything was wonderful."

The old wizard smiled. "Splendid! I suggest you find more of those passages after a hearty breakfast, a much easier task in the day." He laughed at their surprised faces. "I knew from the start you would try to find them. Even the teachers' curiosity leads them to find them, though surprisingly nobody has thought to ask the ghosts in all my time here."

Natsuki frowned. "Seems like a pretty obvious solution if you ask me..."

"Ah yes, well, wizards can be quite prideful." Dumbledore replied.

"Mr. Dumbledore, I have a question about the rest of the teachers," Aki said. "Where are they? So far I've only seen you and Professor Snape in the castle."

"It is Summer break, but I'm here to check on the wards, and Snape has potions to prepare for the coming year," Dumbledore explained.

"I see, I see..." Aki nodded his head in understanding. He was silent for a while. "I need to look for a job. I can't sit around doing nothing anymore."

"A very admirable desire, Mr. Aki. I will see to it that you will be a working man very soon." Dumbledore replied with his mysterious smile.

Aki let the confusing statement slide. After everyone had finished breakfast, they found their see-through escorts to finish the tour of the castle.

"Does everyone get the chance to see the castle before school?" Natsuki asked. The ghosts snickered.

"I'll say this, there's a betting pool for which first year figures out their way around last," Sir Nicholas said. "Young Harry here is being given an advantage."

Harry looked down shyly. "Oh... Sorry... I didn't mean to cheat..." He mumbled softly. The Baron laughed in response.

"Oh, no worries, we'll just leave your name out of the betting pool when your time comes."

Harry nodded. It wasn't long before the group had found their way to the dungeons. The others were chilled by the damp air and creeped out by the dark, but Harry was comforted by the cool and close walls. It almost reminded him of the safety he felt in the cupboard back at the Dursley's house.

He blinked when he realized why he felt at home, then quickly felt uncomfortable. Even at his young age, he knew that being used to places like this to the point of comfort was not at all a good thing...

He'd unknowingly squeezed Monika's hand as this ran through his head, and she looked down concernedly.

"Harry, are you okay?" she asked quietly.

"It feels like home," Harry told her, just as quiet. "Nice, but not nice."

"The Dursleys home? The cupboard?" Monika asked, receiving a nod.

Monika frowned and picked him up, hugging him close.

"We can step out if it's making you nervous."

"Um...Yes please..." Harry mumbled.

"Okay. We'll wait outside for the others."

She grabbed the attention of the ghosts. "Harry and I will wait upstairs for everyone else, he's not comfortable down here." The Bloody Baron bowed his head to her.

"My apologies, I didn't notice. Take him upstairs, we won't be long."

Monika nodded and carried the boy back up the stairs of the dungeon, sighing as they reached the top before giving the boy a small smile.

"Well, hopefully there are no classes down there."

"I'm afraid there are, specifically mine," Snape said, appearing with all the sudden silence of a bat flying through a window. Harry jumped, and Monika gave a loud 'eep!' "They are also required, so I suggest you overcome your squeamishness as soon as possible, Mr. Potter."

Harry wasn't listening to him. Being scared like that had done more to Harry than Snape could have imagined was possible, and now he was having a full blown panic attack.

"Oh my god, Harry!" Monika said, catching the seized up boy before he could hit the floor. His breath kept catching in his throat and his wide eyes darted all over the place. Monika told Snape to get help before turning back to her son. "Breathe, Harry, just breathe!"

Snape left in a hurry and came back a few moments later with a potion in his hand.

"Open his mouth, he's about to suffocate," he said, pulling the cork from the vial. He poured the concoction past Harry's teeth and pushed on his throat to force him to swallow it. Immediately, Harry gasped down a breath and relaxed.

"What was that?" Monika asked, hugging Harry.

"Calming draught, good for panic attacks or stress," Snape said, relieved that he'd gotten the potion in time. "I did not intend to cause this, Miss, I apologize."

Monika took a deep breath. "No, it's all right, you didn't know..."

"I will, however, tell you that I highly recommend some sort of therapy. If something as simple as an unexpected entrance can cause this, then the boy needs help."

Monika sighed. "I know..."

Snape nodded his head. "Mr. Potter?" Harry looked at Snape timidly. "...Just as I thought...He has his mother's eyes..." Snape said, smiling fondly.

"My mama?" Harry asked. "You knew my mama?"

"She was a good friend of mine when we went to Hogwarts together," Snape said, eyes focused on the past. "Smartest witch in our year, and a naturally kind woman."

"So... what happened?" Monika asked. "This sounds like the setup to a happily ever after featuring you and Lily." She immediately regretted the question at the flash of pain on Snape's face that Harry hadn't caught.

"I chose my words with her poorly one day, unforgivable words said in a moment of anger," Snape answered. "Predictably, she never forgave me."

Monika frowned and looked down. "I see... I'm sorry..."

"It was my own fault, yet I still can't help but resent that man. He was the one who drove me to my breaking point, and he was the one who took her away."

"My daddy?" Harry asked with a frown.

Snape blinked. He'd honestly forgotten that Harry was there when he began looking back on his school days, but now remembered the agreement he'd made yesterday with Monika... one that he was dangerously close to breaking. A quick glance at the young woman confirmed all of this, and he wracked his brains to think of an answer for the boy that wouldn't paint his father as the bully he'd known.

"Yes. He was a... decent student, but we had our disagreements," Snape said, scoffing at the extraordinary level of understatement. "He had a bad habit of pranking the whole school with his friends, and barely tried in his classes while still succeeding. I never saw the humor in what he did, and focused on my studies. Not to mention the house rivalry that's been ever present in Hogwarts for centuries by now.

"Oh... Okay... I promise, when I start school, I won't have any fun!" Harry vowed.

Snape stared blankly at the boy, searching for any signs of cheek or sarcasm. The boy had said it with such conviction and had such a determined look on his face that it was clear he was being genuine. Clearly he missed the point by just a smidge.

"Harry, no," Monika said, on the verge of laughing. "You can have fun, he's just saying that your dad got into trouble for fun, something you don't do."

"Oh," he replied, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. Snape sighed at the boy he'd eventually have to teach, hand squarely over his eyes with exasperation.

"Six years from now is going to be a joy."

Monika waved a hand. "Oh, he's only five. Give him some slack." She said, mirth in her tone.

"The innocence of youth is a funny thing... And I do mean that literally."

"I wouldn't know what you meant if that was figurative," Monika said, brow scrunched. "Anyways, we have things to learn about wizardry, and no doubt you have more important things to do than stand here with us all day." A single eyebrow reared up on Snape's forehead.

"I suppose. Until we meet again." His cloak flapped behind his exit in a fantastically dramatic fashion.

"Now I want a cape like that," Monika mumbled, sitting down next to Harry to continue waiting for everyone else.

Eventually, everyone else came back upstairs. "Gotta question the point of keeping a dungeon in a school... Think they'd've renovated by now." Aki said.

"Renovate how? It's not a castle without a dungeon, and what could you do to it anyways?" Natsuki argued. She got worried when she saw Monika and Harry. "Hey, are you two alright?" Monika smiled sadly while Harry curled up.

"We are now, but Harry got scared pretty bad a while ago," she explained. "Snape came around a corner and he just... shut down." Sayori covered her mouth with her hands, and Yuri walked over to plop Harry in her lap and hold him. Natsuki and Aki looked on sadly from where they stood.

"Tch... Those people..." Aki grumbled, crossing his arms. Monika nodded.

"Those people is right..."

Yuri put a finger to her chin in thought. "Hmm... you know, now that we're in the real world, I don't think it would be all that hard to find them." Everyone turned to look at her with questioning looks. "We all know Harry doesn't have a mean bone in his body and wouldn't ask us to do what I'm thinking in a million years, but I say we pay a visit to the Dursleys."

Aki raised a brow, and Harry craned his neck to look at her. "As a cop I disagree... but I wasn't exactly a real cop, and this seems like a good exception to the law. Those in favor?" Aki didn't hear a no. "It's settled, we'll buy Harry's piece of mind from the Dursleys."

"I may be able to arrange that." The group turned to see Dumbledore approachimg with that familiar merry twinkle in his eye. "How soon would you like to speak with them?"

Everyone was quiet for a moment from sheer surprise. Not only was the professor condoning their plan, he was taking part in it. Aki broke from his state first.

"However soon is convenient I suppose," he said. "How long will that be?"

Dumbledore nodded his head. "Well... I believe we may be able to squeeze in some time for this afternoon." The old man explained. "It is summer vacation you know."

"Excellent." Monika said with a small smirk.

Having spent the last two days indoors, it was decided to explore the grounds until the afternoon. There was the rule about the Forbidden Forest and to not go in there, but it was easy to avoid, and there was a lot of space to explore besides it.

Everyone split off into pairs, to look around, Harry of course with Monika. She talked to him about what he would do when he enrolled while they were walking down by the black lake.

"...And apparently you'll learn to turn objects into different objects! Like, imagine turning a feather into a pen or something." Monika said to Harry.

"Isn't that a quill?" Harry asked.

"Um, y-yeah, I guess it is," Monika said, smiling awkwardly. They were quiet for a while after that, enjoying the Scottish landscape.

Monika took the opportunity to sit down, hugging Harry close to her bosom. The boy nuzzled closer into her embrace, smilimg softly in contentment.

Harry was almost being put to sleep in Monika's arms for how comfortable he was. He bobbed back into consciousness when his mom spoke.

"I never imagined that I would have a future," she said softly, talking to herself. "For so long it was doing the same things over and over like a broken record. I would have stayed there and gladly missed out on the real world if I still got to meet you, Harry." She looked down in shock when Harry sniffed and wrapped his arms around her.

"Nobody has ever wanted me," he said tearfully. His eyes were shut tight and dripping, but he had a smile on his face. "I love you, mommy."

Monika smiled softly and teared up at the boy. "...I love you too, Harry... You're the best thing that ever happened to me, and I'm proud to call you my son..."

The two sat in silence, Monika running her fingers through Harry's hair gently as they looked out at the pond together.


	11. Chapter 11

Everyone except for Dumbledore was in various stages of nausea outside the Dursley residence. Yuri was holding her mouth, and the contents of her stomach, with her hands.

"Note to self: never travel by Apparation again," Natsuki said groggily. The sentiment was widespread. When they were back to normal, Dumbledore cast a few privacy charms around the house and Monika knocked on the front door.

The girl took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes. This was it... This was her encounter with the man who tortured her son for five years...

She didn't fully trust herself to keep it together and not physically beat the man.

A walrus of a man opened the door, already beginning to pinken with anger it seemed. "What the devil do you freaks want?" he asked in a cruel tone. Harry was hiding behind the whole group, as far away from Vernon as he could be.

"A little chat, Vernon, just a... well not friendly one, but a conversation," Monika said. Her tone was dark and heavy. "You see, me and my friends have recently taken care of a wonderful young boy that used to live here. As a matter of fact, he was here for five long, grueling years. Do you prefer to sit down for this conversation?"

"We won't be speaking!" Vernon all but yelled as he tried to close the door. Monika shoved it open.

"It wasn't a question."

"Indeed." A soft but firm voice chimed in before a very unhappy Albus Dumbledore stepped up. "Vernon Dursley... I am very disappointed in both you and your wife."

"Come off it, you crackpot old fool! The boy had it coming!"

Monika really had restrain herself from decking him for that statement.

"Before these young ladies take over, explain yourself," Albus told him. "Was it because he wasn't your child? Because he had magic? Because Dudley didn't?" Vernon's face turned from red to pink, toning down a shade from his shell shock.

"You tortured a little boy..." Monika ground out. "... OVER JEALOUSY?!"

Vernon scowled at her. Dumbledore stepped forward. "We will be entering. This is not up for negotiation. Young Harry needs closure on this matter."

"No! Get off my property!"

Before Monika could take this matter to a physical level, Dumbledore petrified him and made him float into the livingroom. Petunia shrieked when she saw the group, and was quickly subdued in the same way as Vernon. Dudley came running down to see what had happened and just as quickly tried to escape, but he too was caught.

"Now that we're all comfortably seated," Albus said, eyes twinkling. "We will take turns saying things that need saying." He lost his twinkle, and his smile turned into a deep scowl. "I'll start us off with my profound disappointment in you three. Young Harry is your family, and even if he wasn't the way you treated him is quite literally criminal. Not a single child in the world should ever have to experience such things, and it pains me deeply that I sent him here in the first place."

Vernon scowled. "We never asked for the boy, old man! We wanted nothing to do with you lot! You FORCED him on us! You dragged us into your world's nonsense!"

"Be that as it may, how is it fair that Harry should suffer for my mistakes?"

"Because that little freak deserved it!" Vernon shouted. His face was so dark red it was bordering on purple. "Him and every other freak deserves what he got an worse! You lot only-" his mouth closed up suddenly and looked as though it couldn't be opened by him. Albus put away his wand.

"Much better. I can tell we won't be getting anything from you beyond more slurs and hateful words, so for now I think you'd better keep quiet." He turned to the literature club. "Would any of you like to add something?"

Aki was the first to respond. "Listen and listen good, butter ball. I have about twenty five years' worth of memories of police work, and whenever I met someone who physically beat their kids like that, I'd beat them black and blue. Only reason I'm not doing that right now is because there's kids present. But when we're alone..." Aki cracked his knuckles.

It was truly amazing to watch Vernon's face cycle through so many colors. From red to purple, and purple to white.

"How dare you threaten my husband!" Petunia shrieked.

"Whoops, forgot you were there," Aki said. "Question for you: what excuse did you have to abuse Harry? If it's going to be the same as your husband's just shut up."

"He's my rotten sister's son! The daughter my parents were so proud of, that had them both wrapped around her slimy fingers!" she said, frustrated tears welling in her eyes.

"Jealousy then; a poor reason, and nowhere near an excuse for your atrocious actions." Dumbledore shook his head at her. She barked a laugh.

"Who do you think you are to judge us?!"

"His mother." All heads turned to look at Monika, who was now holding Harry on her lap. "I think I'm his mother. And he thinks the same way."

"You?! His mother?!" Vernon sneered. "A teenage girl?! Be real!"

"I am being real... I'm almost eighteen, and I've succeeded where you failed. I treated him the way he DESERVED to be treated. Harry and I changed each other's lives for the better, and I won't sit here and let you badmouth him, you overweight, arrogant, unpleasant VERMIN."

"I think that's as far as words can take us," Dumbledore said as he rose from his chair.

"We're leaving? But we just got here," Natsuki said.

"I didn't say that," the old wizard corrected. They realized what he was getting at when he said, "Would you prefer I wait outside with Harry?"

"That would be very nice of you, Professor. Thank you."

Harry looked confused, and Monika kissed his head. "Just go wait with Mr. Dumbledore, sweetie. Mommy'll be back out soon." Harry hesitated before nodding.

"Harry? Would you like to say anything to them?" Harry hesitated before looking at the Dursleys.

"...Y-You're...YOU'RE REALLY REALLY MEAN!" He blurted out before covering his mouth. "Sorry...I went too far..."

Monika smiled at him. "No, you were well within your rights, Harry; you did nothing wrong." He smiled back with a nod, and went out the front door. Monika slowly turned back to the three, along with the rest of the Literature Club and Aki. She was wearing a sadistic, even smug grin. "Neither of those things can be said for you three. No, two." The others looked at her.

"Two? Dudley-"

"Was folloming a terrible example," Monika interrupted Sayori. "He's as much the victim here as Harry, and it wouldn't be right. Go outside as well Dudley, your parents need to be taught a lesson."

Dudley let out a frightened squeak and hurried outside. He would have fought back if it had just been one person, but five grown ups was well past his jurisdiction.

Aki turned to Vernon and cracked his knuckles. "Best part about us living in the wizarding world? The cops'll never know where to look."

Vernon was nearly peeing himself with fear, but he had enough anger for one last insult. He sneered at them as he said, "This is just going to prove me right, that you freaks are the sort that don't deserve the priveliges of normal and honest folks!"

"We've got just as much magic as you do," Monika said, grinning darkly at him. In fact, the entire Literature Club had an aura of dark satisfaction around them. "We would love to make this last longer, but there's only so much you can do without magic. Bet you didn't realize we were the same as you, huh?"

Vernon's face turned purple. "You...You..."

Outside the house, Dumbledore winced slightly as the sounds of the ensuing beating were heard.

He quickly put up an additional silencing charm around the house in an effort to keep Harry and Dudley away from what was happening inside.

'They don't need to know yet,' he thought to himself.

Monika sat in her room on her bed, holding Harry gently in her lap. He was looking at the book she was reading to him, feeling quite content.

"How do you feel, Harry?" Monika asked quietly.

"Tired," he yawned. "And happy." Monika giggled a little.

"I'm glad... do you feel safe? Like the Dursleys won't hurt you again?" Harry shuddered somewhat.

"I know they won't..." he trailed off.

"But it still doesn't feel like it?" He nodded, and she set down the book to hug him with both of her arms. "I promise, if they ever come near you they'll have to deal with me first. There is no way I'd ever let that happen, Harry." He nodded again, then turned around in her arms and hugged her back.

"Thank you mommy... For...everything..." Monika giggled and tightened her hold on him.

"Aww, you're welcome, Harry." She cooed. "Well, we finished the book...Want another one, or do you want to get ready to go to sleep?"

"J-Just one more story...?" Harry asked softly. Monika smiled.

"Of course, sweetie... Of course..."


End file.
